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vibratingskull · 1 year ago

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The Trial part 2 : Don't turn your back

Part1, 2, 3, 4

Thrawn x f!reader

The trial continues and everything go south when you fall for the enemy's strategy...

The morning temperature is suffocating. You didn’t do a thing and you already want to run naked to the lake.

You open the tent and crawl out grunting, what a way to start the day. You observe the landscape at your feet, you don't hear Thrawn coming behind you; You nearly jump out of your skin.

“Maker! Sir, please make a sound next time. You will kill someone one day!”

He doesn’t answer, instead fixing the tent squinting.

“This is not your tent?” He asks, sounding a bit lost.

“I slept with Eli last night.”

Cosblo whistle in your back. You roll your eyes.

“You're a dunce, Cosblo.”

“Each group needs one” He shoots without missing a beat, it takes a smile off your face.

You turn back to a Thrawn staring at you with brows frowned. You’re taken aback. What did you do to deserve the cold shoulder like that? You didn’t…

Oh no.

Did he notice you last night?

You’re frozen in place under his gaze, you wish the earth could swallow you right here and now.

But he just closes his eyes and passes you. You release your breath.

“I am not sure this is the correct circumstance for a display of such behaviors, but I understand stress gets the best of us.”

What? Did he just insinuate…

“What does that mean exactly?”

“That I hope your… relationship will not interfere with the mission.” He warns with a cool tone.

What is going on here?

Eli took this moment to appear.

“ ‘Morning everyone.” He yawns.

“Good morning, Casanova!” Cosblo high fives Eli who blinks in confusion while you spat out your caf. This is ridiculous!

Thrawn takes the floor before you could interject.

“Once you have eaten, we will continue north until we reach the cliff I found yesterday.”

“Shouldn't we head west?” Cosblo intervenes “We won’t cross a cliff but a plateau, like on the map.”

“Well observed cadet, but it would take us a day or more to walk up there. I suggest we go for the shorter road.”Since nobody objected, you all rolled with it. “And while I am at it: Vanto, (y/l/n)? This is the last time this happened.” Eli's still lost and looks at you in hope to have some explanation, on your hand you're out of your mind. What the hell? You bare your teeth but don't answer anything. Keep calm,J. C.,keep calm.

You swallow what’s supposed to be a breakfast and your protests, pack your stuff and on the road again. It takes you a solid hour to attain the said cliff and once here you're stopped by the breathtaking view of the region.

A wow escapes you as you try to take a better view of the panorama.

“I regret I don’t have my imager to take a picture.” You say.

“Interesting to hear.” Thrawn slides beside you.

“Yes, I take a lot of…” You stop mid sentence “I will never let you see my collection.”

“Why not?” He asks genuinely surprised.

“You will psychoanalyze me over my dead body.”

“I did not have ulterior motives.” He simply responds.

You shake your head as you approach the edge. A fall would be extremely brutal at this height, surely some broken bones and if you're unlucky a broken spine you estimate.

You walk back to the group who’s taking out the climbing gear.

“Who’s going first ?” Ask Eli, leaning slightly to the edge of the void.

“I will.” You decide.

You drop your pack off the cliff and take the rope and the grip to start your descent carefully, one step after the other, trying your best not looking down. The stone is sharp and scorching hot, slashing the palms of your hands. You clench your jaw and push down. You plant the grip and pass the rope through it, checking if it’s secure and continue down below. You breathe out counting in your head to forget the height below you until your feet touch the ground and you can breathe correctly once more. You wipe your sweat off of your forehead and signify to the group that they could come down too.

Cosblo goes first, you hold the rope letting it slide as he descends. It went smoothly, and he reached the ground without problems.

“I will signal the next one, survey the surroundings.” He tells you.

You take your gun off your back and observe the vicinity, concentrating on sounds and visual cues. An animal flees in the bosques with a rustling sound but you don’t locate anything else.

You hear a thud and a cry of pain.

You go back running and find Eli on the ground holding his leg with Cosblo kneeled next to him.

“What happened?!” You shout.

Eli grimaces in pain, unable to respond. Cosblo begins to give way to panic.

“I… I don’t know. I was holding the rope then something hit my head and…”

You can’t believe what you’re hearing.

“You dropped him?!” You fume.

Cosblo doesn't respond, looking everywhere frantically like a solution was under a random rock. Eli tries to spread his legs and lets out a whine of pain from his mouth. You kneel next to him to support him.

You knew you couldn’t trust this guy! He took it at the first occasion he got and now Eli is hurt with a cracked bone or worse. You feel rage growing in you.

Thrawn appears next to you out of fine air.

“What happened?�� He asks way calmer than you.

“Cosblo dropped Eli!” You spit.

“Something hit my head!” He pleads.

“Bullshit!”

“Quiet, both of you!” Thrawn cuts off.

He helps Eli take off his boot to observe his leg, he wrinkles his nose as it’s already starting to swell. Eli winces as he manipulates his limb.

“He will need bacta treatment and perhaps a splint.” He diagnoses.

“What?” Eli is incredulous.

You look daggers at Cosblo who’s defeated, you don’t buy his little scheme even if he plays it well. You put your hand on Eli’s shoulder in a recomforting gesture.

“That’s your fault Jamwest!”

“I told you something hit me. Someone is here looking at us right this moment!” He says with a rock in his hand.

Thrawn raises his hand to shush everyone.

“Silence! What is done, is done. Now-”

He stops and fixes a point behind him. He quickly turns back.

“Help him on his feet.” He orders, “We need to move.”

You and Cosblo put your arms under Eli's shoulder and rise like one man. You follow Thrawn laboriously in the tall grass and bushes, adrenaline through your veins, until he stops with his fist in the air. He listens and points to a small cavern well hidden under the vegetation.

You crawl inside with Eli and Cosblo as Thrawn walks out the trail and starts climbing an enormous tree on the other side. You all wait in complete silence, barely daring to breathe, that something happens. Finally, after a minute, you can hear the sound of a little group emerging from where you come from.

“They went that way.” One whispers,“Let's go!”

You squint as a dispatched group appears behind the foliage, with great strides.They are five. The first one waves at the others to advance, their rifles in hand. They are clearly on the hunt.

One stops a little ahead of Thrawn, they are sandwiched between you. He flattens himself against the wood and points you as he takes out his gun. You frown, what does he mean?

“Are you sure you didn’t lose them? We can’t see them anymore.”

You suddenly remember you have the sniper rifle, you detach it off your bag and posture yourself. You will need to be quick, you don’t know what kind of sound it will produce.

You inhale and exhale several times, emptying your head and aim.

One loud clack echoes in the jungle and one person collapses. You don’t take the time to savor your victory and pass to the next. Alerted, they all stopped and regrouped with their weapons drowned, ready to shoot anything in sight. Impossible to have a clear shot with all this movement.

“They’re here! Regroup! Regroup!”

Back to back they form a circle to cover every possible direction, they well learned their lessons. You choose your next victim in this commotion and aim. She flashes red and collapses before you could pull the trigger, Thrawn was more rapid than you on this one.

“They are dispatched! Search!”

Thrawn takes a second one, but betrays his position by doing so.

“Up! They’re in the-” You shoot this one up. Silence!

The last one realizes he is alone and starts searching frantically, spinning again and again. You put him out of his misery with a well placed shoot in the chip. All his body turns red and he falls down silently.

You sigh with relief, not bad for a first encounter. You crawl back out and help Eli as Thrawn already starts to investigate their package without regard for one adversary whining right next to him.

“Bastards! You-”

“Yeah, yeah, shut up!” You shoot her in the chip too. She makes a strangled noise and blacks out.

“That was uncalled for…” Cosblo starts, supporting Eli.

“Shut the fuck up Jamwest Cosbblo.” You articulate every word. “You’re not in any position to comment on my behavior.” You slide the cannon of your rifle towards his chest. The ire you felt was far from down.

He stares at you wide-eyed, taken aback.

“I have found the cylinder.” Thrawn notes on a conversational tone.

You turn your head, approaching him, or rather moving away from Cosblo. He had already taken out the datapad to plug it.

“Is it the B team?” You ask over his shoulder.

“No, but I am curious about that data.” He starts to analyze.

It takes a minute once again and the results appear on the screen.

“So?” You try to unclench your jaw.

“It is just auto generated text and numbers.” He pouts. His shoulders seem to lower a bit.

“Perfect! Are we going?” You ask with a false enthusiasm.

You don’t wait for any answer and start walking straight forward.

A deeply irritating calm voice stops you on your tracks.

“Cadet (y/f/n), it is useless to go this fast. We have a wounded comrade on our arms.”

“I’m not a dead weight either.” Eli speaks, a bit annoyed.

You take a deep breath through your nose.

“Sure. How insensitive of me.”

And you go back.

The group walk in silence, safe for an occasional whine of pain from Eli and the encouraging words from Thrawn. You lead them with angry steps, well ahead, ruminating on what happened, playing the scene again and again. Imagining Cosblo letting go of the rope and letting Eli fall from this height. That bastard. You couldn't believe it, but here you are.

You try to calm down, but you know that once you started it, it takes you time to go down again. You hear Cosblo whispering to Eli.

“Your girlfriend has some serious anger issues, dude.” You swear you’re gonna punch this guy.

You choose a plateau covered by foliage to drop your bag and let Eli rest. They sat him down on a rock while you're circling aimlesslyl, trying to put your mind at ease. But to no avail. Everything gets on your nerves at this moment, the precarious situation, the pained expression of Cosblo, the whines of pain of Eli, the orders of Thrawn, the heat, the trial…

You need to isolate yourself.

To clear your mind.

You put your rifle on your back and start walking again in a random direction.

You hear Thrawn calling you back but you choose to ignore it, going deeper in the unfamiliar jungle. The more distant the better.

He calls you once more and you accelerate. What do you need to do to get one minute of tranquility?

You hear steps behind you, you start to run.

The steps go after you. You hear your name again.

You run without thinking right in front of you, blinded by anger and frustration. You hear them getting closer but you don’t slow down.

You reach a large clearing and you stop to catch your breath. The steps stop and you're greeted with an icy cold voice.

“Cadet (y/n) (y/l/n)!”

You frown. You’re in no mood to take the beat without shouting back.

“Sir, I assure you this is not the right time.”

“Cadet, you will come back to the camp right this instant.”

You turn to face him.

“No.”

“No?” He squints.

“No.” You insist

“I am your Lieutenant and you will follow my orders.” He detaches every single word.

This is the only language he understands, the hierarchy.

“Oh really? I thought we were comrades earlier?” You frown.

“This trial doesn’t erase the hierarchy.”

You snarl.

“We’ll see that. If I’m really insubordinate as you claim, then the instructor would surely have struck me down by now.”

It’s his turn to frown.

“Perhaps.” His voice is warmer but the menace is undoubtedly here. “But you’re making a mistake.”

He takes one step towards you like a predator, by reflex you draw your weapon. His eyes widened an instant but went back to his imperturbable mask of stoicism just as quick. You blink, torn between anger and a growing fear, but you muffle this last one. You’re really flirting with the red line.

“Cadet…” He warns “You’re playing a dangerous game.”

“If I’ve learned anything about you, it's that you like to play this game yourself.” You retort. “You wanna bet who’s gonna win this round?”

You draw your rifle closer to your face, aiming at his chest. He surely thinks you’re bluffing but you’re dead serious. You know you can be a real hazard when you’re pushed to your limit, that’s why you wanted some space to calm yourself in the first place but he doesn’t facilitate the task.

He takes one more step.

You shoot between his feet.

A loud clack rings in the clearing. Some birds fly away. You look at each other in silence. You feel yourself trembling with rage and tension.

He raises an open hand as an appeasing gesture.

“Cadet, let’s get back to the camp if you please.” The voice is soft but the tone is commanding.

You shake your head. You feel this weird tension from those three last months bubbling out to the surface and you’re afraid of the explosion.

“No. Listen, I just need some space to breathe, can you understand that?”

“I am afraid not, it would be playing in the hands of the adversary team.”

“The one we just beat?” You snigger.

“We may have just defeated them, but their initial plan is still unfolding at this very moment and it will be profitable to the others very soon.”

“What plan?” You’re losing patience.

“Creating dissension in the group by striking Cosblo.”

“Don’t tell me you believe this jackass?”

“I do.”

Once again you can’t believe what you’re hearing.

“I asked you to be a reasonable person, you remember? Eli is mature enough to not let it get to him, I trust you can do the same, cadet.” He is trying the diplomacy tactic now.

“Well, I’m sorry to disappoint you but not at the moment! Taking the risk to repeat myself but I need-”

A clac rings in the clearing but none of you shooted.

You feel a burning sensation and compression on your side as you lower your gaze. You see red slowly spreading on your hip.

You’ve been hit.

You’ve been hit!

You freeze in disbelief, you don’t see Thrawn sprinting towards you and hitting you with all his weight.

“Dive!”

You hit the floor with such impact it forces the air out of your lungs. As you cough you hear people shouting and running towards you. You’ve got company!

But you don’t care. You barely register what’s happening.

You’ve been hit.

lt hurts.

There is so much red…

Blood.

You’re bleeding.

A breath gets caught in your throat as you go into panic. You’re bleeding!

“Bleeding… I’m bleeding!” You croak.

“Calm down cadet (y/l/n).” Thrawn’s voice barely reaches you.

“I’m bleeding! I’m bleeding!”

You go into a frenzy, crying and clawing at your wound. You will bleed to death if you don’t receive treatment, maybe the corvette won’t be fast enough.

“Everything is okay Cadet! You are in shock...”

“I’m bleeding! I’m gonna die!”

You start crying, scratching your face, drawing blood, screeching.

Suddenly a pair of strong hands seize your shoulder and shake you one rough time.

“Cadet (y/n)!”

You look at Thrawn wide eyed and mouth agape, impossible to make a single sound as they all get stuck in your throat. Thrawn’s looking at you, jaw clenched and brows frown with an intense stare. You feel a tear rolling down your cheek as you try to speak but just open your mouth slightly more.

Thrawn visibly relaxes and his tone soothes as you stop screaming.

“Everything is good cadet, you are not wounded.”

A hiccup escapes you as you start sobbing.

He sighs and his hands pass behind your neck, bringing your head to his chest. The rhythmic sound of a steady heart reaches you and lulls you.

You're frozen in place, unmoving, eyes wide open and silent under the warm body of Thrawn. Eyes fixed on a point away, you’re pressed against his chest where you can hear his steady heartbeat and your heart could sing if only you were fully aware of your surroundings and not terrified at the same time. You start contemplating on how you ended up in this position…

You can feel him cradling you gently.

“Everything is fine. Nothing can reach you here.” He murmurs.

You blink slowly, starting to come back to your senses, still shaking with sobs. You realize you’re not in the clearing anymore but on your knees in a dark cavern only illuminated by luminescent mushrooms. How did you get here?

You take a deep breath to stop the hiccup and you pull apart from one another, you nod as a thank you and get back on your feet.

“Where are we?” You ask with a shaky voice.

“We are in a cavern as you can see.” He responds. “I managed to drag us here while you were in shock.”

You nod. You look around but don’t manage to find any daylight. How deep are you?

“The other team…?” You begin.

“Will not be a problem for now, but we should refrain from retracing our steps back.”

He wedges his gun on his back and takes out his comlink.

“Cadet Vanto, can you hear me?”

Static noises ring to give place to a relieved voice.

“Thrawn? Thank maker, I tried to join you several times! Is (y/n) with you?”

“She is. We ran into an ambush.”

“You’re okay?”

“Everything is fine, we escaped them through a network of caverns. It will take us a day to get out, we will need to regroup. Can you see a tall reddish tree?”

“A tall red tree… Yes!”

“We will come and meet you there in one day. Do not stay where you are, they must certainly scavenge in your zone.”

“Understood. Over.”

He puts back his comlink and invites you to walk deeper in this cavern. He explains as you look uncertain.

“There is a web of caverns but they all lead to the outside. I have studied them on the datapad earlier, I can guide us through it.”

You’re not even surprised anymore.

You nod once again and he takes the lead in those sinuous ways.

You walk in silence. With the fallout of earlier all your fear and anger has dropped, you just feel a nagging fatigue but you focus on the present moment. You travel side by side, helping each other with the different obstacles. It is especially difficult with your locked suit that hinders your movements in addition to being painful. But you manage to walk past it and your progress is relatively uneventful.

At some point Thrawn stops.

“No need to go further for now. Resting would be best, we should go back for the first hours.”

Without some real choice you stop and head towards those shiny mushrooms.

“We should test it first for poisoning.” You hear behind you.

“Ha yesh’, thatch a goo’ ideach.” You respond, the mouth already full of those goodies.

Oops.

He looks at you and shakes his head with a tired expression.

“Forget what I said.”

You swallow, discreetly, and shoot a smile. It’s really sour. Guess you will know if they're poisonous soon enough.

You gather some woodish plants that are sneaking around the wall of the cave and Thrawn starts the fire with a good old method: two stones.

You sit and look at him through the flames, contemplating your situation. It upsets you, but you owe him excuses, to the whole team.

“Thrawn I…”

His flaming gaze darts on you, letting you know you have his attention despite is mute behavior. You swallow your pride.

“... I’m… sorry… for what happened.”

He remains silent, inviting you to continue with one gesture of the hand. He really wants you to go all the way, huh?

“I shouldn’t have run this way and left the team vulnerable, but I was in a bad headspace and did what I thought was the right course of action. In insight, it was a terrible idea.”

You manage to finish. He slowly nods.

“I hear what you say, and I thank you for honesty.” He murmurs. “Can I ask you where those bursts of anger come from?”

You frown at him.

“From what I have seen… and comprehend, I suspect them to be the symptom of ptsd for your case. I was wondering if you had the chance to talk about it to someone.” He says, thoughtfully.

“I…” You commence, gathering your thoughts, wondering if you wanted to share this story.

Your gaze travels through the interior of the cavern, ending once again on the eyes of Thrawn. You’re enthralled by them, getting the courage to continue.

“I hate when we let each other down because… because when I was a child I…” You gulp, eyes fixated on your fidgeting hands. “I saw… one of my cousins got slain by a rival family. And we weren’t there to help him. We were hiding in the bushes with some of my siblings and cousins and we saw him get shot in the head by them.” Your lips tremble, you fight back tears.

“You were a child, you could hardly do anything else other than hiding.” He says softly.

You nod.

“Yes, it was logical. The only logical thing for a child to do.” Your voice breaks. “Only he was fourteen. We should have… we should have gone get an adult.” You feel a tear traveling down your cheek. “Do something…”

You wipe the tears with the back of your hand.

“You must take me for a hypocrite,” You smile without joy ”I say I hate when people let each other down and I did it the first chance I got.”

“I think we all grief our own ways, your own manifested in an unfortunate way today.” He states pensively.

You don’t respond, relieved that he doesn’t bury you with reproaches yet.

You rub your hands and expose them to the fire. This cave is freezing cold.

You slide yourself way closer to Thrawn.

“If I may, it’s to warm up.” You smile timidly.

He doesn't respond, letting you bring yourself closer to his warmer body and the fire.

You clear your throat, desperate for a conversation subject.

“But… I suppose… I mean I guess, you also had some terrible ideas in the past?” You try, murmuring too.

His gaze travels from you to the fire, contemplating his thoughts.

“I did.”

“No really? I wasn’t serious, what kind of terrible ideas a tactical genius like you can have?” You laugh, your eyes still moist.

“My brother died because of one of my plans.” He whispers.

Your laugh dies immediately.

“We were fighting pirates, and he met his demise in the crash of his ship under my commandment.” He said, his gaze fixated on the fire like the face of his brother was in it.

You’re struck by lightning, don’t know what to say. So you remain silent.

“Sometimes I wonder what if I had done things differently, would he still be here?”

“That is the best way to go mad, trust me. I did the same thing.”

“I know,” he breathes, “But the mind wanders without reason or guidance…”

Your mouth is dry, what could you possibly say to alleviate his pain? You clear your throat.

“Don’t dwell on the past, you should just… Be grateful to have known your brother.”

This is surely the cheesiest response possible, but you don’t have better for now. Comforting is not one of your fortes, much to your regret.

He doesn’t answer, nodding pensively still fixated on the fire.

Silence settles again.

You try something to lighten the atmosphere.

“You wanna know a secret?”

He looks at you, head resting on his hand.

“Cosblo and I, well… We’re exes.”

He frowns, staring at you head to toe, visibly surprised.

“You didn’t expect this one, didn’t you?’

“I must admit, I did not.” He looks like he’s trying to digest the info or to glue back two incompatible pieces.

“Well, not a lot of people are aware of that. It’s a secret we share and hide from the rest of the galaxy.”

You really want to pry on his love life but it might wake up some pain, and you figure you both had your dose for the night.

You continue.

“It dates back to high school, he reminded me of one of my star crushes that I saw on the posters of the Empire. It ended the day I tried to introduce him to my family, they didn’t try too hard to present like… “respectable” people and he ran away. He has given me a bad reputation since.”

“Without passing judgment, you seem to be doing just fine now.”

You frown, what does he mean?

You recall this morning conversation.

“Oh, you mean with… Eli?”

He blinks affirmatively.

“No!” You laugh in embarrassment. “No, no. Eli is a sweet guy, but he’s… I am… He’s not my type.” You try to explain “He’s like my little bro’ at the Academy.”

He pouts.

“A pity.”

“You are judging now.” You warn.

“My apologies.”

You continue to discuss this way until late in the night, about everything and nothing. Or rather you’re the one talking, Thrawn only nods or answers with evasive sentences, you thought he was a bit bored but he was always reactive in the discussion, his attention fully on you. But the opening of vulnerability you saw earlier is clearly sealed. And like that you fall asleep next to one another, searching each other’s body for warmth now that the fire had extinguished, and in spite of your suit that makes every possible position uncomfortable and a bit painful.

At some point a little regular sound gets you out of sleep, you blink trying to remember where you are and realize you were sleeping on Thrawn’s shoulder, his head resting on yours. You move away carefully not to wake him up, and you actually take the time to detail his resting face. The last time you got to see him sleeping you were tempted to kiss him. You berate yourself at the thought of this childish display of want. Now that you take the time to think about it, you would want nothing more than to embrace him with all your might and him embracing you back with enthusiasm, to hear his heartbeat again and feel his hand caressing your hair softly. You still want to kiss him you confess, oh gods you do, but this wish subside in front of the desire to make one with him, one heartbeat.

You gently trace the contours of his cheek with your finger, dreaming your fantasies while admitting to yourself, finally, that you were falling in love.

The regular sound gets you back to reality and you realize it’s your comlink once again. You rise up on your feet and move away to another chamber for privacy. You open the transmission and a screeching sound with static assaults your ears. You flinch, it’s terribly disagreeable. But you can still hear a discordant voice in this cacophony, a voice that you guess is of one of your cousins in “the business”, but impossible to say which one. The audio is horrifyingly chopped, but you manage to take out some words.

“Hello?”

“... hear me…”

“What? I can barely hear you.”

“... careful… … new meat… market… … governing…”

And it cuts.

What?

You don’t understand.

You gather your thoughts, trying to make the most of it. Apparently there is a new “product” on the black market, but “new meat”? You don’t get it.

And why warn you? You’re no more part of the business of your family. It doesn’t make sense.

Lost in your thought you don’t hear Thrawn walking away from your hiding place. You decide you will have the mind clearer once in the morning and get back in the chamber where you left Thrawn. You found him in the same position as you left him. You smile interiorly, placing yourself back, your head on his shoulder. You deeply inhale his scent, and close your eyes.

The morning comes way too quickly to your taste, waking up is proven difficult and the prospect of breakfast with those mushrooms doesn’t help. You eat reluctantly and go back on the road soon after.

Once again you progress uneventfully. Until you found something at a turning point.

“What the…?” You start.

You open your eyes wide at the sight of a 74-Z speeder bike laying there.

“What is it doing here?”

“They mentioned vehicles if I recall. They must have scattered them through the region for the teams to find.” He supposes.

“Wonderful! We can join Eli and Jamwest way faster now!” You cheered, jumping right on the seat.

You work the gear but nothing happens.

“It doesn't work.” You lament disappointedly.

Thrawn kneels next to the speeder, eyeballing the transport.

“I see. It is a test to evaluate our mechanics abilities.”

You sigh, not another test. Can nothing work like it is supposed to just for once? You get off the speeder and kneel in front of Thrawn.

“Alright, so what do we got?”

“Hold this.”

It takes you two hours with bare hands to work on the bike, a lot of things were plugged and turned and your skin was pinched to blood more than once, but finally, after several fruitless tries you turn the gear and a rumble echoes between the stone walls of the cavern.

You can’t refrain from a cry of joy.

“Hell yeah! Give me five!”

But Thrawn just squints at you with a confused expression.

“Here, that’s how you do it!”

You take his arm and top his hand with yours with a broad smile. He looks at his hand with a raised eyebrow but doesn’t comment anything.

Sometimes humans really puzzle him.

He takes place in the driver seat and you take place behind him, a little disappointed to not drive, but you soon forget it as you get to take him in your arms. You press yourself gleefully against his broad back, your cheek resting against his warm body. His scent fills up your nose again, and you breathe it joyously.

He makes the motor roar.

“Hang on!”

No need to tell you twice.

You flinch as he starts the engine and picks up speed instantly. You see the walls pass before your eyes at high speed as you fly like the wind. The road is uneven and bumpy, forcing you to snuggle yourself against him tighter, it’s a good excuse and you take full advantage of it, feeling your heart beat faster against him. Flying like that makes you feel like you weigh like a feather and everything is lighter. You feel your ponytail flowing behind you, even your suit seems to less compress you.

Soon you can catch sight of sunshine.

The exit. Finally

You burst out of the cave at full speed, it takes off the ground and you yelp in surprise. You drift on the tall grass and almost plummet off the bike but you’re holding on.

His driving is clearly not the most agile you got to see but it does the job, you close your eyes as low branches come scratch your face. At this moment a shadow passes between the trees next to you. You blink. Did you really see that? You squint and focus. But you see noth- Here! It disappears as quickly it appeared, but you clearly see it this time!

“Thrawn!”

“I know. They are just behind us.”

You hear them more than you see them now, but you’re unmistakably followed by other bikers. You come out on a plateau without forest and three rivals appear behind you with the urge to fight. You gulp at their expressions, they are determined and seem prone to violence.

They’re riding a 74-Z similar to yours, at the difference that they’re faster. You clench your jaw as you realize that you’re technically a dead weight behind Thrawn and you slow him down considerably.

Despite that you feel him accelerate and start zigzagging between the trees and the boulders, they follow without too much difficulty, and get some terrain over you. You hear them laugh as they harass you.

“They are still following us!” You shout over the noise.

He tacks fully to the right, almost throwing you out off the bike, and rushes into a trench. You‘re taken off your seat for seconds until the hard landing, you bang your head against his back.

They’re right on you but are limited by the width of the trench at least.

You shot a glare behind you.

“Dive!” Thrawn warns.

You have just the time to hunch, you pass under a massive trunk. You feel the drought as it grazes your hair. The second pursuer didn’t see it tough and you hear a dull sound as he rushes into it at full speed. You feel for him on this one, he will be very lucky if he doesn’t have the jaw broken.

“Shit!” You hear his teammate swear.

The nice side effect is that his fall slowed down the third one dramatically, the less nice side effect is that the first one is still on your heels and she’s really, really angry now.

She extends her hand, trying to grasp your ponytail. You sweep it away with a large gesture of the arm, throwing both of you off balance. Thrawn rectifies the best he could, but the weight doesn’t help. You emerge from the trench into a plateau in a cacophony of noisy engines and bended sheets of metal.

“Come back here freak! I know you have it!” She screams.

Anger rises at this nickname, you suddenly really want to punch her in the face. Well, you can’t, but you just thought about something almost as satisfying.

“Keep a straight line and let her get closer.” You enjoin Thrawn.

He complies and you see her smile enlarging as she gets on you.

“You’re about to get what you truly deserve, blueface!” She yells.

She acts like she already won. Good, she will be less cautious. You wait for her to get next to you and in a smooth motion you pivot on your seat and jump off.

You land off behind her. You didn’t hit her with your knee as you wanted, but that’s okay. You pick up your gun from your back and slide it under her throat while she tries to maintain the balance of the vehicle, you violently bring your arms back and pull her off the controls, she lets a strangled noise escape her as she tries to ease the pressure on her throat. You spin and let her fall almost carelessly. You look at her rolling in the dirt with a satisfied grin.

You dive onward and take control of the handlebars before you collide with something.

“Two for the price of one!” You shout gleefully to Thrawn.

He nods and slows down at the limit where the jungle starts again, you both stop and look behind. Away you see the third one, stopped too, looking back at you like he is trying to make a decision. You give him a dark look, fully prepared to bring it on if he’s starting again. He stares at you both and turns, retracing his steps towards his fallen comrades.

You observe him pick up the girl when Thrawn speaks.

“It appears I have made a miscalculation.”

You turn back to him in surprise.

“I’m sorry?”

He reaches into his pocket and takes out the cylinders.

“I wanted to take care of it because I am confident in my abilities, but it appears in insight that as the odd one out, I am an obvious target.”

He holds out the cylinder to you. You look without understanding.

“They expect me to have it, we should contradict those expectations.”

You nod, taking the cylinder and putting it in your pocket.

“Let’s go.” Thrawn simply says.

You follow, with the engines at the bare minimum to minimize the noise and you travel for an hour in silence, until you finally see the red tree Thrawn talked about. At last.

Tree grants you shadows but, once again, the temperature is merciless. You raise your hand to shield your eyes and see Eli waving at you. He looks already in a better state than when you left him. You feel a pinch of guilt at his smile.

“What do you got there?” He asks.

“Two brand new 74-Z speeder bike.” You announce proudly.

“I can see that, but where do they come from?”

Thrawn explains to Eli all of the situation while you look over his shoulder. Cosblo stands slightly set back with a closed expression. You both cross-eyes. You offer a contrite smile. He nods.

“What happened (y/n)?” Eli finally asks.

You sigh and decide to put all your cards on the table.

“I needed some time alone to take stock of the situation and I put the team at risk by my sole selfishness. I want to say I’m sorry.”

Eli put his arm around your shoulder.

“And you’re pardoned. Don’t cause us another fright like that again.”

You laugh alongside one another.

“But tell me, you’re radiant. How’s your leg?”

He stretches it in front of you. It got a splint.

“Brand new like your bike! Jamwest did the splint.” They use each other’s name now?

“Did you know he got medical skills thanks to his mother who is an apothecary?”

Yeah, it reminds you of something.

“Now that you're here, we got good news.” Cosblo announces.

Everyone turns towards him.

“We’ve located the B team.”

@bluechiss

#thrawn x reader #thrawn x f!reader #thrawn x y/n #thrawn x you #thrawn #grand admiral thrawn #mitth'raw'nuruodo #jaw crusher #fanfic #vibratingskull

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nerdypyrowolf · 3 years ago

Text

Stood Up By A Date Poly!Bowers Gang x Reader

Henry and Belch oriented (mostly Belch)

It was raining hard as I waited by the kissing bridge for my date, I checked my watch for what seemed like the hundredth time.

Five o'clock, he was only... an hour and a half late.

I let out a defeated sigh, he wasn't going to come, it was all too good to be true. A big time jock like Jared wouldn't waste his time with a nerd like me. I should have listened to the guy's warnings but I was far too into the thought of going on a date with the high school's football captain. Even if our team sucked ass.

I began the walk of shame back home in the rain, tears running down my face, my blue summer dress was soaked right down to my underwear and bra, my hair that I curled this morning was dripping wet and sticking to the sides of my face, and I could only imagine what my makeup looked like right now from the rain and tears.

Overall I felt, and most likely looked, like a drowned rat, it was probably a good thing my date didn't show up, though if he had shown up on time when we agreed to meet I could have avoided the whole soggy look.

I had walked maybe a meter away from the bridge when a familiar blue Trans-Am rolled up beside me.

"If y-you are heRE to poke fun and s-say "I told you so" then screw off g-guys." My voice cracked from crying, and I was shivering from the freezing rain that was coming down hard now.

The looks I got from the four guys all varied. Henry's face said "I told you so", but I was happy he didn't actually say it, Vic's showed pity, Patrick's had a smug grin on it, and lastly Belch's expression was full of concern and worry.

"No none of that, jus' wanna give ya a lift, and getcha outta the rain sweetheart, yer lips 'er turnin' blue." Belch said from the driver's seat.

Henry then opened his door and silently motioned me into the car and onto his lap, one of Belch's long sleeve flannels in his hand.

I climbed in and curled up in Henry's arms, silent tears falling from my eyes as he wrapped Belch's dry shirt around me.

"I'm such an idiot." I sobbed.

"I could have told you that." Patrick laughed, licking his lips as he stared at my wet legs, the water running down them from my soaked dress.

"Shut up Hockstetter." Belch hissed.

I let out a small whimper, my teeth chattering together as I tried to curl up into a ball of nothing and disappear. I wasn't very fond of Patrick, but he was friends with the other three guys so I semi tried to put up with him.

Patrick let out a huff, and sat back in his seat. I heard Vic move around in the back seat behind Henry, then saw him lean forward with another long sleeve flannel that was probably tied around his waist moments ago. He eyed Patrick then silently, and swiftly laid the gray shirt over my gooseflesh covered legs, hiding them from Patrick's hungry gaze.

I let out a quick and quiet, "thank you." Getting a small smile in return.

"You hungry?" The question came from Henry, he was looking down at me, his face void of all emotion like usual.

"A little bit." I answered, but my stomach betrayed my answer and let out a loud growl. "Okay, a lot a bit."

Belch let out a short chuckle and pulled into the parking lot to the diner.

"Uuh, maybe we should just go to my place instead." Belch said, glancing at me in concern before looking back toward the front of the diner.

"Huh? Why?" I looked up towards the diner, and now understood why he suggested that.

There in the front window was my supposed date Jared, laughing and eating with another girl. She was gorgeous looking from what I could see, long dark hair in a high ponytail, tanned skin. It was Shelby, the captain of the cheer squad, and my biggest tormenter.

"Oh." I choked out as I watched the two move in to make out with each other. Another sob wracked my body, and I turned and buried my face back into Henry's now soaked shirt.

"Get us out of here Belch." Henry commanded through gritted teeth. "Before I do something I really won't regret."

"Already on it." He put Amy in reverse and peeled out of the parking lot.

"Ugh I was totally played by him, next time I have the bight idea to go on a date with a jock, smack some sense into me or lock me in my room, even better idea, don't let me date at all, save me from the embarrassment of looking like a drowned rat, and getting stood up." I groaned, my voice muffled by Henry's shirt.

"We can lock you up in my bedroom." Patrick grinned, reaching over, and sliding his hand under the flannel around my legs reaching up my dress.

"Another request," I slapped Patrick's hand away from me, "keep him away from me."

Patrick sent me a playful pout, I returned it with a glare. Ugh he creeped me out so much.

The rest of the car ride to Belch's house was spent just listening to the sound of the rain pounding against the roof of the Trans-Am, and the radio on low volume playing rock 'n roll music.

At some point on the car ride I must have fallen asleep because before I knew it we were already at the Huggins' house hold.

I felt arms shift around me, and I groggily opened my eyes up a little bit to see that Henry had passed me over to Belch, Vic had Belch's keys in hand and went to unlock the front door.

"Mama should be home from work soon, so I'll get Y/n cleaned up before that happens." Belch said, walking towards the bathroom.

I groaned and reached up to rub the sleep, and makeup from my eyes. Belch sat me down on the toilet seat then grabbed a washcloth from the closet and ran it under warm water before coming back over to me, he kneeled down in front of me and gently wiped my face clean.

"At least yer lips ain't blue any more doll."

"I s-still feel cold." I shivered, "do you mind if I take a bath?"

"You go ahead, I'll grab ya a t-shirt and boxers to slip on while you warm up." He stood up to go grab me the said items, but before he could get very far I reached out and grabbed his wrist stopping him.

"Belch."

"Hmm"

"Thanks for today."

"Yer welcome doll."

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kkusuka · 4 years ago

Note

What about a insecure reader about her and Ushijima's relationship since he doesn't seem all to interested in having her around unless it's for volleyball purposes. So when she starts to drift away from him he's super confused, suddenly Tendou becomes more comfortable to sleep on at movie nights, and Reon seems to know everything you used to tell Ushijima. And he struggles internally because he doesn't know what to do. And the last straw was when you walked in holding Goshiki's hand and he walked over pushing the 1st year away with a worried/pained/anxious face shaking his head saying no because he doesn't to no what else to say but he knows it's not right.

Muddle<3

relationship: ushijima wakatoshi x reader, slight oikawa tootu x reader

words: 1.5k

synopsis: Ushijima can’t bare to lose you.

cw: insecurity

a/n: i havent written something like this in a while and i really missed it!

Ushijima Wakatoshi was not emotionless.

Simple, but not emotionless.

It was something that had to be constantly reminded before people began to truly believe he didn’t feel anything. He’s had his many licks with emotion, as anyone else would. The joy of finding the one thing he truly loved doing; volleyball. The confusion when his mother began reprimanding him for using his left hand. The overwhelming helplessness when his father walked out the door.

Butterflies when you smiled at him in the hallway, the heat in his cheeks when he saw you in the stands at one of his games. The shake in his hands when he met you at the gates and told you his feelings, very detailed in facts.

Ushijima Wakatoshi was clearly not emotionless.

So why was it he seemed so indifferent to you?

You knew he had to feel something for you, people don't empty their entire heart just because they felt like it, at least you hoped. Of course, as much as he denied, you knew that you would be on par if not second to volleyball. In a sick way; you were fine with it as long as he came back to you and let you share some of his burdens, you were happy.

But as of recently, it seemed that he couldn’t even do that.

Gone were the nights he would fall into your arms outside the gym doors because he’s been practicing for five hours straight. The walks in the park when neither of you could sleep, ones that ended in his arms on the couch watching some random food network show.

So now, as you leone the couch, void of the warmth you so desperately crave; you can't help but wonder if it was only you who felt the distance between you.

Your door unlocked- just as you thought it would. Your boyfriend slipping through the door, eyes immediately finding your body draped over the end of the sofa. He could still see the dinner you had made, glazing over the dirty dishes, proof he was hours behind when he said he’d be here.

“Tosh? Is there any way we can spend more time together? It feels like it’s been forever since we’ve done something.”

“No. Nationals is arriving soon, I cannot do anything about my schedule. We are spending time together right now.”

If Ushijima was not emotionless; how was it so easy for him to dismiss you?

Did you and Tendou always have a Wednesday movie night?

Ushijima raked his mind for the last time he’d seen this; the last time he was in his dorm on a weeknight. He knew you and the redhead were good friends, close since the first year of high school. He remembered something about a sleepover before you had begun dating and the occasional dinner at some fast-food restaurant.

He understood both your and his love for anime, and the movies alongside. But if he hadn’t known any better, he would assume that it was to two of you dating, not yourself and him.

Clearing his throat, you both glanced from your spot, huddled on the couch, inviting him to sit beside you. It was nice, though he knew nothing about what was happening on screen, something about demons and a little girl along with a boy with boar head overtop his.

The second the credits rolled, you and Tendou engaged in a conversation that he couldn’t even begin to understand. Somehow ending in another plan to go out the next night for a store opening that will have a manga that you both like.

Finally, as Tendou left, you noticed how silent your boyfriend had been since getting there.

“Would you like to come with us, Toshi?” Would he? The ice in his eyes held the answer far before he spoke.

“No. I will be practicing.”

The statement seemed like nothing. A simple retort you’ve heard so many times you could predict what he was going to say before he did. The phrase forced the memories of laying alone on the couch and sitting at restaurants staring at the clock for what felt like-- and really was-- hours a night.

You could count o one hand how many dates that he’s been early too, or even stayed the whole time. That’s even when he accepted your invitation.

Your friend had warned you that you would feel like this, abandoned and thrown to the side. ‘Why do you stay? Clearly, he isn’t treating you right, o find someone who will!’

“Just for a little? We haven’t been out for a while.” you plea, noticing how he was ready to walk away.it felt like ages since you’ve had an actual conversation.

“Y/n, don’t start right now. I am tired, and I have already told you that I am busy. Quite pestering.” pestering? Is that what you meant to him, were you a bother?

Tendou had always reminded you that Wakatoshi wasn’t good at feelings. He didn’t know how to put what he felt into words. You accepted that, you understood that emotions can be harder on some people.

But now, it wasn’t just feeling an word, it was actions. It was the missed dates he never apologized for, the charging past you after practice that he stayed overtime for. It was him turning his back on you before you could respond.

As you turn your eyes catch one of the photos you have taped to your wall, a selfie you and him took during a trip to Harajuku in May. You bought matching bracelets both with small flower charms on each, ‘a symbol of eternal love’, yeah right.

‘If you’re the only one putting in effort, it’s not a relationship, it’s desperation’

Ushijima Wakaothish may not have emotions, but he surely had one.

Jealousy.

Green and far too ugly to acknowledge.

He may not understand the butterflies when you smile or the warms when your hand locks with his, but he knows exactly what the burning in his veins is. The furrow in his brown and deeper frown than normal, he’s jealous, extremely at that.

A fact that anyone who looked at the man could see, his aura radiated exactly what he was feeling, a true sight to behold.

His mind was muddled, what right did Oikawa have to even share the same breath as you, never mind put a hand on you. His mind ran through all of the things he could possibly do right there, he could punch the brown-eye playboy, but then he would be in trouble.

He could make a big scene and yell at him, or he could do nothing, just watch as the Seijoh playing steals your attention. Suddenly he’s thrown into memory, Reon and you chatting at the lunch table. Like you’d been friends for years, the smile that was supposed to only be meant for him plastered on your face.

Then it was Goshiki and his blistered hands that you so dutifully wrapped for him, holding his hand so tenderly that Wakatoshi wondered if it felt like when you held hands with him.

Then to Tendou, your pro-claimed cuddle buddy.

Would it even be worth it to stop Oikawa? Has he already lost you to someone else?

He couldn’t let that happen, not when he still had a chance to keep you.

You were violently ripped from whatever stupid pick-up line Oikawa was spouting by two hands on your hips. Your entire body was pulled into a hard chest as the same two arms cradle you to his.

“Waka-”

“Don’t talk to what’s mine, Oikawa”

You’ve never heard him sound so angry, he practically snarled at the setter, turning the both of you and walking down the hallway to the ext before the brown-haired man ould even retort.

“Toshi are you-”

“Please don't leave me.” Another emotion you’ve never seen from the man, fear.

He was acred, losing you was the end of the world for him. What was he supposed to do if you aren’t there for him? Who will he look at in the crowd to keep him going during the fifth set? There is simply no one that can give him the rush you can.

“I know I’ve been bad, and I’m so so sorry. I can make up for the dates and we can go to the manga store and to dinner whenever you want. We can watch movies after practice and cuddle whenever! Just please don’t leave me for Oikawa!” he pleaded, taking your hands to his, holding you so tightly and yet like you were glass.

“Wakatoshi, I’m not leaving you. Please calm down, I’m not going anywhere.” You move your hands to cup his face, finally taking notice of the tears looming in his eyes.

And you smiled. The smile just for him, taking his head onto your shoulder, slightly rocking back and forth. His hands rubbing along the length of your back.

“I’m not going anywhere.”

“I won’t let you.”

tags: @bakugos-cumsock @rinsangel

#ushijima wakatoshi #ushijima x reader #ushijima angst #ushijima x reader angst #ushijima wakatoshi x readder #ushijima wakatoshi x reader angst #oikawa tooru #oikawa angst #oikawa x reader #oikawa x reader angst #oikawa tooru x reader #oikawa tooru x reader angst #haikyuu angst #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu x self insert

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chipper-smol · 3 years ago

Text

Hollow Knight Telephone Round Two: Babysitter SL

Prompt: Shade (lord) is in the midst of final exams and they’re more stressed and tired than usual while babysitting. They accidentally fall asleep in the middle of a calm spell and the god babies become worried. The next time Shade comes over, all of the god babies present a gift they all made together!

By @minnesotamidian-blog

Shade barely noticed their surroundings as they entered the nursery playroom. Plastic clattered and they sighed as Radiance yelled at the top of her lungs. At least she wasn't screaming. Yet. The scene was set: Unn was still in a crib and chewing on a bar, Root was climbing slowly onto a chair. Radiance was knocking over plastic blocks as Grimm cackled away. For once, Wyrm was playing peacefully with a kick toy, batting at it with his tail. Root got onto the chair and squealed, raising her arms. "Big Root now!" The little blue-eyed godling squeaked out.

Shade picked her up, hugged her to their chest before holding her out. "Now you're a flying Root."

She screamed laughter as Shade tiredly walked her around the room before setting her down near some of her favorite toys. They made sure nobody else had claimed the chair and took a seat, bending over to pick up the fussy moth. "Ancient enemy!" Of course she bit their hand.

Shade winced and just ran a hand over her fluff. "Are you hungry for something that isn't void?" They spoke tiredly.

"Oranges!" She yelled out.

The teen sighed as he went to the mini-fridge with snacks and found some miracle of miracles! pre-peeled oranges. Shade pulled them out and put her in a high chair with one at a time so she wouldn't be tempted to throw the extras at them.

Finals were here and they were really taking it out of the gangly god. Why did they have to know stuff about inorganic chemistry? Why did they have to know about history nobody cared about? There were some fun subjects, but the finals seemed to even suck the fun out of those classes, going over notes and studying everything just in case. They'd been pulling long nights and the night before had been an all-night cram session-and they still had to come to work, they couldn't afford not to. They'd underlined all the stuff the teacher had said was important to remember and had written down stuff from the last finals about each teacher's usual tests.

It made narrowing down what to study from impossible to I'm totally toast. They groaned as they set down a calmer Radiance the opposite side of the room from Wyrm. She found toys that interested her, at least. Root wandered over to Wyrm, who was really into knocking at the kick toy and purring. Root settled nearby and burbled as she hugged and gnawed a plushie.

The teen couldn't help it. The kids were calm for once; their head started to tilt forward, eyes heavy. They were exhausted. Shade's eyes closed and their breathing deepened. At first, their toys were too interesting to notice their babysitter's state; but it didn't take long for Grimm to get bored enough to fly over and notice. "...Shade? Shade's eyes are closed." They landed and the four children not in a crib headed for the batlike godling.

"Is Shade dead?" Wyrm sounded worried.

"Don't be stupid, they're having a nap!" Radiance huffed.

Root looked up and swayed before patting Shade's leg. "Grown-ups don't have nap times." She was tearing up.

"Nuh-uh, they're having bad dreams and it's tasty!" Grimm clamored onto their lap.

The others joined, Radiance grabbing Unn to join them on the sleeping teen. Grimm rested between Shade's horns, Unn was on one shoulder, Radiance on the other, with Root and Wyrm curled up together on Shade's lap, Wyrm purring for once.

When Shade woke up, they were surprised by the weight on their body and forced themself to look down and around before moving. "Uh oh, I fell asleep… sheesh, I'm glad this place isn't a fiery disaster." They picked the godlings up. "You're not dead!" Wyrm exclaimed.

Root burst into tears and even Grimm joined in on the crying spat. Shade sighed and spent the rest of the time comforting them until meal time and settled them down. Time to go home for them all!

But the worry didn't leave the heads of the little godlings. "We should make something for Shade. If they're having nightmares, they might be sad." Radiance sighed. "But that doesn't mean I feel bad for my ancient enemy!" "What do we make?" Root twirled around, slowly turning in place until she fell onto pillows in her dizziness.

"Something of clay! I can burn it dry!" Grimm hopped around.

"But there's no clay." Unn spoke slowly, thoughtfully. "But there's crayons and paper."

"Oooh. We can make a pretty picture for Shade!" Wyrm waved his head happily. The group went for papers and each started to draw on the paper. "You're taking up too much paper!" Wyrm whined. Radiance complained in turn, pointing at the color he was using. "I want that color!"

Wyrm growled and argued back. "I had it first!"

They started rolling around over their drawings, biting and clawing. Grimm gave a solid scream that startled the two. "You ruined Shade's pretty pictures!" He yelled.

The two looked at each other and hung their heads. "...sorry." Radiance muttered. "-'m sorry." Wyrm looked away from the moth, skulking. "Start again? You can have the crayon, Radiance…"

Radiance took the crayon and they all picked up the last piece of paper. "I think this is better." Root spoke cheerfully.

It was three days later, once Shade had a solid night's sleep and finals completed that they'd returned to work. A large construction sheet of paper in grey covered in scribbles and rough names and messages was waiting for them.

Feel better soon Shade

Love you

Best babysitter

Tastiest nightmare!

Not the worst anciant ancient enemy.Shade could only feel warmth and laugh, hugging the drawing to themself. There were some days the job felt like the best thing in the world. ------------------------------- By @tomatotimes

-------------------------------

By @loud-whistling-yes

"No."

The kids protested louder. Shade lifted the TV remote higher up, now above their head.

"Screentime's over, I said no."

Wyrm attempted to crawl up their leg in what was a rather pathetic attempt at stealing the remote, but was promptly shaken off. Grimm tried next, flying overhead to snatch the controller. Shade ducked and grabbed him by the tail before he could send himself flying straight towards the ceiling fan for the third time that day.

"Find something else to do," Shade said as they stuffed the remote deep into their pocket, much to everyone else's dismay. "Look, as much as I'd love to shut you guys up for the whole day, you've all been staring at the TV for hours now and I don't want to get in trouble with your parents."

Louder complaints.

"No, no, no. I am not cracking this time." Shade announced as they pulled Radi, who was hissing like an angry cat, off their jeans and pulled their phone out. "You guys got me last week, never again. No more TV for you, we're doing something else before I lose my money for tonight. Google almighty, what is your suggestion."

activities to do with children

fun activities to do with children

activities to do with toddlers

what can I do with kids that isn't a major headache to deal with goddamnit

Go to the park? Shade took about half a second to consider the thought before wondering why they even thought it was possible anyways. Five kids from the deepest depths of hell, outdoors? No. No park.

Finger painting? A pain to clean up, but better than outdoors. Then they looked up from their phone and considered the idea with greater thought. Grimm's wings, Radi's legs, Unn and Wyrm's… er…. Body?.... Nevermind.

Play pretend? …. If they hear the name Hallownest one more time they might just go insane.

Hide and seek? No. No no no no no. No more hide and seek. Shade was utterly sick of hide and seek. If they had to spend another second stuffed inside the closet or trying to get Radi off the roof they'll probably quit the job right there and then.

Baking?

… That might work. Sure, cleaning up is gonna be absolute hell but it's the only thing Google suggested that they haven't tried yet without horrible results.

Shade stuffed their phone back into their pocket and made a getaway to the kitchen, everyone else following, probably still trying to get the remote back. Butter, eggs, flour, sugar, oh, even some chocolate chips…

"Well then," They declared, pulling every ingredient out of the cabinet and fridge. "We're making cookies! And no, no one is allowed to touch the oven when it's hot. If you guys behave we'll have cookies in like, an hour or something like that."

The kids watched in confusion as Shade ran around the kitchen, pulling out bowls and spoons and a bunch of other utensils while typing furiously on their phone.

Cookies recipe

Cookies recipe easy

Cookies recipe for beginners

Cookies recipe for kids

"What do you guys think about chocolate chip cookies?"

Multiple chitters of approval. "Chocolate chip cookies it is then."

Step one: sieve the flour. Oh wyrm, first step and it's already gonna go to shit.

"Okay, you guys can watch this but for the love of the holy wyrm, do not touch it." Shade measured the correct amount of flour before scooping Wrym and Unn off the floor onto the table so they could see while Radi pulled herself onto the chair. The Lady had already clinged herself onto their sweater and Grimm was doing just fine flying nearby.

“You guys get one chocolate chip each if you guys behave and don’t get flour everywhere.” Shade added. “Now, Lady, hold still and don’t move, I gotta keep my hands steady for this…”

************

"Okay, chocolate chip time." Shade popped open the jar of chocolate as the kids cheered. "Actually, we’re not supposed to be eating this plain, cause it's going into the cookies. But no one actually does that so you guys get five chips each for not setting the kitchen on fire so far."

"The recipe says a cup of chocolate chips but we all know that's a lie." They added while shoving their phone back in their pocket and grabbing a handful of chips before mixing the batter together. "I'm probably not someone you should take life lessons from, but here's one thing I can guarantee you should take to heart: never follow the recipe when it comes to chocolate chips, you count that with your soul."

Final step: oven time. The oven was preheated earlier, and the only thing left was to get the cookies into the tray and into the oven. "Now, who wants to make heart-shaped cookies?"

****************

Three deformed stars, five mutated trees, two malformed cats, several irregular hearts, a couple handfuls of chocolate eaten straight from the jar, and one (1) perfectly round cookie later, the cookies were on the tray, in the oven, and in a surprising turn of events, no one burned themselves… yet. Shade grabbed everyone and made sure no one was in a five-meter radius within the oven before picking up all the dirty bowls and utensils. “Cookies will have to sit in there for about 15 minutes, we’ll be cleaning up in the meantime.”

“Don’t look at me like that, and no whining, if you want cookies you gotta deal with the mess afterwards. That's the payoff, unless you're a wizard who has a passion for baking. Then that's fair, I guess." They dumped all the used utensils they could find and turned on the sink. The sief, three bowls, tablespoons and teaspoons.. Oh wait.

"Radi, the big wooden spoon, please?" Shade called, sponge in their hand and bowls being thoroughly rinsed.

Radi, of course, was not willing to help, because she's basically a feral house cat that just so happened to grow more legs than the average feline. Shade sighed and moved on to finding the next helper they could find.

"Grimm, I know you're touching the oven, stop it. I'm pretty sure you're immune to fire but not everyone else and you're setting a bad example for them. Get me the spoon please."

“Lady, here’s a cloth, help me dry the bowls up. Wyrm, … i have no idea how you can help, no limbs and all but uh, could you go get Unn? I have no idea where she went. Thanks.” The last sentence was to Grimm, who flew over with the mixing spoon and dropped it into the sink while Wyrm scurried away to find Unn, wherever she’s napping at.

"Radi? Radi, I know you're right behind me, stop pretending that you can't hear me. Lady has an extra cloth with her, you're on table wiping duty."

*********

“See? That wasn't so bad,” Shade sent the last of the bowls back into the cupboards and closed it shut. “And the cookies are pretty much done.”

“Also, no. You may not eat the cookies the moment I pull them out of the oven. These rules also apply to Grimm because it's unfair to everyone else.. Don’t look at me like that Grimm, I know you’ll eat them all before they cool and leave us nothing.”

The cookies smelt delicious, and were left on the dining table to cool. “Now that it's cooling down, it's naptime.”

A chorus of groans and wailing.

“It’ll be ready when you guys get up. Up up up, sleep time.”

**********

If you’ve been anywhere near toddlers before, you’d know that getting them to nap in their bedrooms is a near-impossible situation. And Shade was not a person who deals with near-impossible situations well. So following the months old custom, Shade turned on the tv, remote miraculously not pickpocketed, collapsed onto the couch, and waited for everyone piling on them to fall asleep before moving them into their bedroom and pretending they managed to wrangle them all into bed.

And it all goes to plan, the Lady and Wyrm were sound asleep on their lap, Radi and Unn were dozing off on their shoulders, and they're pretty sure the snoring from the top of their head was coming from Grmm. Now, step 2: get everyone off them and onto the beds.

… Or maybe later. It's been a long day, and the couch is pretty comfy. Yeah, just five more minutes, nothing wrong with that…

And if the parents came home to see a cleaner-than-expected kitchen, a tray of chocolate chip cookies, and five kids snoring on top of their babysitter, also sound asleep, then that’s nobody’s business.

And if the originally completely full jar of chocolate chips was pretty much empty, then that’s no one’s business as well.

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By @astronomicartz

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By @hollow-kin

Shade lord wanted to take a nap. They are sooo tired, but they are babysitting 5 baby gods for 5$/H. Grimm is a brat, Radiance his sister is also a brat. Unn was ether eating or seeping, same with grub1. Lady was, well sweet and cuddly. they needed to find a distraction for the kids, what would work?

Would tv work, would cartoons work? They had dinner already. Tv had to work or grub and radiance would destroy the house. They needed to take a nap. Now what to watch was a different question, they would have to ask the kids. “so, what do guys want to watch? “Movie!” well they were all in agreement, what was good. “What kind of movie do you guys want to watch?” “Fire!” “dath” “animal” “tree” “ok. No, we are NOT watching fire.” “awww” “i do not know what dath means so no. So nature show it is then.” they go over to the tv and turn it on, then select the world around us. Lady was quick to fall asleep, on their lap. Shade lord slowly fell asleep, and grub nested between grub and shade lord. Grimm climed up to shade lord's head.

-------------------------------

By @hawaiianbabidoll

-------------------------------

By @neoliberalsatan

A gentle darkness surrounded the shade lord. He finally felt at ease. "finally", he thought, "rest." it didn't take long after that before the darkness started to take shape and a whole new world created out of shadows sheathed him.

But the happiness of the shadows didn't last long. A new and a new sound drowned out their world and all the animals and plants took to hiding back in his head. The shade lord felt the distressed creations stir inside his mind and woke up to the sound of his phone ringing. He rubbed his lowest eyes and accepted the call

"Hello, with shade lord. How can i help you?" "Oh sorry dear, i know it's terribly late but we got an unexpected call and need to leave. Since you've babysat Unn multiple times we assumed she would like to stay with you. Is it okay for you? Can we bring her to your place?" The shade lord thought for a moment and decided he could use the money. "Yea it's fine, she's always such a pleasure to babysit." The voice on the other side sounded relieved. "Thank you. You're a life saver. We will make sure you're compensated accordingly."

Feeling a bit more awake after the phone call he started to prepare for having baby Unn over. After a while her parents arrived and after some greetings he was home alone with the baby. He walked with her in his arms towards the living room and placed her gently inside the crib. She opened her eyes for a moment after losing the feeling of someone holding her, but then closed them again and fell back asleep.

The shade lord decided he couldn't sleep anymore and made some popcorn and decided to put on a movie. It didn't even take 20 minutes before he got called again.

"Hello, with shade lord. How can i help you?" "Oh yes finally someone who answers. Sorry but you're our last hope. We were going somewhere tonight but our babysitter called off. Do you think you could babysit our lovely Radiance? She's very good behaved and won't cause you trouble." "yea, no problem. You'll just need to bring her to my place if it's no trouble"

Not even 5 minutes later the parents showed up and dropped of their larva. Shade lord looked at it a bit confused but didn't get the time to say anything because the parents left as soon as they handed her over. He closed his front door and gave the larva a good look. She was white and had a fluffy appearance. She had 5 pairs of legs and yellow-orange eyes. She started to writhe a little bit and shade lord made sure to hurry to the living room. He took a pillow and placed it on the couch and softly laid her on it. She seemed at ease and rested on the pillow all stretched out

Shade lord continued his movie, which was finally starting to get interesting, but as usual the commercial break hit. He was in the kitchen making more popcorn when he got another call.

"Hello, with shade lord. How can i help you?" "Hello, is this the babysitter?" "Yes, that's the one you're speaking with." "Great, a family member had an accident and i need to be there for them so do you think you could babysit for me?" "Yep, totally." "Thank you, can we bring him to you?" "Oh yea, no problem."

A few minutes later his doorbell rang and he hurried towards it. The father carried his toddler in what could only be described as wing-esque appendages. The shade lord extended his arms for the man to put his toddler in and felt a gentle brush of the leathery membrane. He shivered lightly before feeling a sudden warmth light up in his face, like someone has started a fire. When he looked back up the man was gone and he closed the door. The creature he was holding in his arms was unlike anything he had ever seen. 2 horns sprouted from its black head. The face was as bleak as white linen on a summer day. It seems she likes make-up because she had already 2 black lines running from her cheeks towards her eyes, eventually fading into the darkness of her head. She had the same membranes as her father and no limbs besides it.

He wasn’t even in the living room before he heard his front door being was under siege. He put the weird creature down and opened the front door. Immediately he was assaulted by Hollow, a very energetic child. He was wearing a green cloak today and it finally seemed he was starting to grow bigger than a hand. His horns has also branched into the inside. Immediately after Hollow jumped on his he could hear Pale complain about his unprofessional work attitude. Although he was bigger than most it seems he wouldn’t grow much anymore. His tiny stature didn’t discourage him from being bossy. Finally White entered. By far the biggest of the bunch, she was also the most introverted. Her roots slid elegantly over towards him and even managed to stop Pale from talking for a moment.

He took them inside the living room only to find that somehow the larva and the winged creature had somehow gotten into a fight and now both were in hiding in opposite sides of the room. Normally he wouldn’t make such a big deal out of this if somehow his couch wasn’t full of tiny needles and a chair was on fire. He rushed to the tap to fill a bowl of water to extinguish the little fire. With the attention being diverted Hollow managed to slip from the watch of Pale and could now be found in the corner Radiance was hiding. The larva figured out quickly he liked to play games and had soon enough set up a plan to make him betray Pale.

In the meantime White had climbed the couch and started pulling out the needles while Shade lord had figured out what the membrane between the appendages from the weird creature were for. Namely, for flight. And now she was attacking his horns and he couldn’t reach her. As if her flying was not good enough alone, whenever he raised his arms she would back off and launch a little fireball All this commotion woke up baby Unn who slowly started to slither away from her crib to find food.

The shade lord finally had enough of the little fire hazard and rushed towards the pantry to get a kettle. Once he had found it he peeked around the corner only to find that fire hazard eating his popcorn! All caution was thrown aside and he grabbed her by the guts and put her inside the kettle. She tried to heat it but he added some water to it. While it evaporated quickly it was apparently enough to bring over the message. Now he could focus his attention back on the larva again, only she could’ve produced those needles, which White was making great progress with removing them as a quick glance told him.

Now back to Pale and Radiance who were apparently having a fight (Darkness, that larva really has a talent to provoke others). They were arguing near the coffee table, because apparently they wanted a fight so bad they just ran to each other and met in the middle. Hollow was climbing one of the legs of the table, but wasn’t noticed by the shade lord because he was too occupied with the other 2. He tried to separate the arguing pair but they were at each other’s throats. They even had summoned a needle and a tiny dagger to fight each other. The shade lord obviously didn’t count on this tiny factor and had soon enough one in each hand. He screamed, trying not to curse, barely not failing miserably, and Pale managed to escape. In any other situation this wouldn’t pose a problem, but Hollow, after eating some popcorn, found himself at the right edge of the coffee table and pulled out his tiny wooden sword he got from Pale. The larva, Darkness curse her, used this to her advantage and made the sign to Hollow to betray Pale. The act of betraying Pale involved jumping off of the coffee table and hitting Pale as hard on the head as possible. Naturally, all of this went according to plan and even brought some extra spectacle. After Hollow had hit Pale on the head he wasn’t prepared for the recoil of the wood and ended up hitting himself in the face.

All of this lead to 3 crying children (1 of them from laughing, the others from pain) and 1 very angry young adult. He put the larva on the couch and took care of the others while White held a close eye on the damned 10 legged thing. After Pale and Hollow weren’t crying anymore he took the little fire hazard out of the kettle and continued his movie, which was getting to an end.

After the film ended a documentary started and had all the kids hooked. He went to check on Unn only to find an empty crib. He could however see a slimy trail lead up his wall and onto the ceiling. It went through the door into the pantry where he kept his food and toys for the toddlers. He looked up on the ceiling only to find a sleepy Unn with a letter block in her mouth. Suddenly Unn started to make a very weird noise and fell from the ceiling onto his face. He swiped her off of his face onto his shoulder and then washed it.

He returned back to the tv to watch the documentary that was still playing and plopped down on the couch. Not long after he was asleep with White on his left shoulder, Unn on his right shoulder, the little fire hazard on the same arm and Pale curled up in his lap. Radiance and hollow were still awake but occupied with the documentary instead of causing trouble. After the documentary ended they crawled up against his sides and fell asleep.

-------------------------------

By @constantlost

-------------------------------

By @bugbeee

Exhaustion seeped into Shadelord’s body, limbs weighed down by a heaviness they hadn’t experienced in a while. The smatter of godlings that lay around them on the couch, or on them in Radi’s case, was enough to convince them that they had died and that this was the Eternal Void that was created to punish them for cheating on that test in the 8th grade. In their defence, it had been on rock sedimentation.

Wyrm continued his grumbling from the corner of the couch, still infuriated by the attack on his person only moments before. Root, the aggressor, looked remarkably pleased with herself. Shade knew they should probably punish her further in some way but... well, to be perfectly honest, they simply were not paid enough to do so.

They really should have charged more. Fifteen dollars at least per tiny demon they had to look after rather than the whole bunch. Fifteen dollars was not enough to encourage discipline. It was enough for them to make sure none of the godlings killed the other. And they had thought they had come up with an ingenious plan to secure some peace and quiet.

After much wrangling, they had finally managed to set up two separate playpens, each far enough away that the godlings wouldn’t start screaming if one of them saw their rival. Wyrm and Root in one pen, Grimm, Radi and Unn in another. It was a gamble, but one that thankfully seemed to have paid off. Radi was still exhausted from the tussle she had just had with Wyrm, and Grimm seemed content to chew off the heads of the plastic Garbies they had found. Unn continued to watch, and occasionally helped Grimm execute a Garbie in a spectacular manner. It was both reassuring, and beyond disturbing. Root and Wyrm meanwhile were cheerfully ignoring each other as they both played with their own toys.

It should have been foolproof.

Unfortunately for Shade however, they were dealing with infants instead of fools.

For some damned reason, Root had decided that now was the perfect time to act up, instead of being the sweet little darling she had been so far. Her target, much to their dismay, had been Wyrm. In all fairness, the godling had probably deserved it in some way; most likely he had tried to worm too close in order to steal some of the grubpaste and mushroom sticks Shade had left out as a snack. Root had seen this theft as a cardinal sin, and had subsequently decided that Wyrm deserved nothing less than absolute annihilation.

The momentary doze Shade had managed to fall into was abruptly interrupted by loud shrieking and wailing, resulting in them vaulting over the couch to hurriedly find out which one of the godlings was being tortured.

The scene that greeted them was... well, it wasn’t any less ridiculous than some of the other stuff the little goblins had pulled before.

Using her flexible tendrils, Root had seen fit to wrap them around Wyrm, and aggressively dunk him into the bowl of grubpaste he had attempted to steal from. His shrieks and hisses had woken up Radi and drawn the attention of the other children, who were now cheering on Root’s attack on Wyrm’s person.

“Enough,” Shade declared, shooting a glare behind them, “Root, let him go.” Root looked up innocently.

No, she seemed to say with her eyes, justice must prevail.

“Justice won’t get me my fifteen dollars,” they hissed out in return, and they could have sworn that Root shrugged, turning away from them to dunk Wyrm into the bowl yet again.

“No!” they cried out, quickly whipping down to grab the poor child before he could be further humiliated. After finally being saved from his vicious tormentor, Wyrm decided it was time to go into hysterics, lashing out with a sharp tail to fully show his displeasure. Root simply watched impassively as the rest of the children cheered.

Shade wondered if fifteen dollars was even worth it at this point.

“Alright, alright, enough! Root, you go in time out. We do not waterboard our fellow godlings in grubpaste. Wyrm, calm down, it’s just grubpaste- Settle down!” they yelped out, flinching as something heavy settled onto their head. The soft fluff revealed that Radi had decided to fly out of her pen and taunt Wyrm in person. Shade wanted to sob with frustration.

The door cracked open, and Ghost peered in, head tilted curiously.

Need help? they signed, and Shade wanted to collapse in relief.

“Please,” they begged, and their sibling nodded grimly, even as amusement danced in their eyes. Shucking off their school backpack, they quickly headed over to the other pen and signed to them, bobbing their head up and down in a soothing motion. Grimm and Unn were entranced. Radi less so. She remained seated on their head, but at least seemed to have finally stopped provoking Wyrm.

“I’m just going to clean him up,” Shade explained uselessly, watching as Ghost simply nodded and waved them off.

With a tired gait, Shade wandered into the kitchen and turned on the tap, listening as Wyrm’s panicked yelps grew louder at the realisation of what was going to happen next. Radi snickered softly, before leaping off and gliding back into the living room.

Bath time, according to the godlings, was a fate worse than death, and something to be avoided at all cost.

Unfortunately for both Wyrm and Shade, it was a necessary evil. Wyrm disagreed. Loudly. And with claws.

He howled furiously as Shade slowly lowered him into the warm water, softly scrubbing at the now-dried grubpaste sticking to his skin. Despite his attempts, Wyrm failed to prevent them from continuing his bath. He turned to pathetic pleading instead, making soft mewling sounds as though he was nothing more than a poor innocent child who had done nothing wrong, ever.

Shade, who remembered the little bastard knocking a glass ornament onto their head, was not convinced. Ultimately there was no escape, and Wyrm reluctantly gave in to the soft scrubbing, though he made sure his rumbling complaints were known.

“Yes, yes,” Shade said quietly, “I truly am the worst. Close your eyes so I can rinse you.”

Wyrm, in a dumb act of defiance, did not close his eyes. The hysterics started again, and Shade contemplated drowning themself in the half-filled sink. Fifteen dollars, they repeated. Fifteen dollars.

Grabbing a tea towel, they quickly dried the godling off, carefully teasing out water droplets from soft scales. He child gnawed on their fingers in revenge. “I’m done,” they announced, wandering back into the living room with a now clean, and furious, Wyrm.

Ghost looked up from their position on the floor, back leaning against the couch as they played with Grimm. Radi immediately perked up at the sound of Shade’s voice, and quickly flew over, making herself at home on top of their head. Unn seemed to have decided to undertake the momentous task of scaling up the back of the couch, leaving a thick trail of slime behind. Root, still stuck in her pen as punishment, let out a wail, demanding to be let out.

Shade was all out of energy to fight back or deal with a tantrum.

“Alright, alright, out you go,” they muttered, depositing Wyrm on the couch before reaching down to lift out the petulant child from her terrible prison. She clung to them desperately until they finally collapsed on the sofa. She quickly wriggled out of their hold and instead plonked down beside them. Wyrm had hissed at the sight of her, and slunk to the other side of the couch to sulk.

Grimm let out a raspy cackle at the sight, before diving down to nip at Ghost’s fingers.

Unn finally made her way to the top of the couch and waved her eyestalks victoriously. All Shade could do was give her a tired pat.

They sank into the couch, the exhaustion creeping back in. It should have been foolproof.

Fifteen dollars.

-------------------------------

By @arandoskeleartist

youtube

#telephoneknight #hollowknight #hollow knight #BabysitterSL #shade lord #pale king #radiance #nightmare king grimm #unn #white lady

162 notes · View notes

moeruhoshi · 3 years ago

Text

I've been watching anime all day so here's a late nalu day gift

Lucy slammed her bedroom door and flopped down on her bed with a weary sigh, weeping into her pillow as her day finally came to an end.

The open door of her patio allowed her to hear the neighing of carriage horses taking away her most recent suitor, a man who barely knew what the meaning of personal space was.

Just how many princes and dukes had to waltz through their gates before the princess’ father realized that they had no interest in adequately courting her? It was painfully obvious how the lot of them were only interested in her well-displayed décolletage over her personality and spent more time schmoozing up to the king instead of trying to win her favor.

What hurt, even more, was knowing that she could never be with the one who was truly meant for her.

She stared at the red string tied to her pinky, the fiber ending far off in the distance where it connected to her destined partner. It calmed her in some ways, allowed her to feel a sense of clarity, knowing there was at least one more person out there who could give her the true love she craved.

She hoped every day, when Spetto called her down to meet another suitor, that it would be him, the one on the other end of her string, waiting to hold her as she wanted to hold him.

They could instead be a peasant, she thought as her hopes for him to visit one day were beginning to fade. Not that she cared about that kind of thing, but it meant that they didn't have the means to enter the castle easily. Or maybe they were somewhere in a neighboring country, too far away to find her. Maybe he hadn't been gifted the power to see the string and didn't know she was waiting for him but felt just as empty without her by his side.

She was sure if she voiced her knowledge of the red string to anyone else, they would call doctors from all over Earthland to analyze her cognitive function.

But she desperately wanted to tell everyone that she had no intention of selecting a suitor through their gaudy traditions. She would instead venture out into the world to find her soulmate, the person at the end of her red string of fate. But knowing her father, he would only let her marry with the promise of the expanded wealth she would gain him from a political marriage.

"Miss? Are you still awake?" Spetto knocked lightly, the princess holding in her sniffles to hear what the maid had to say. "I'm sure you are…but I won't bother you. Your father wants you to know that he'll be inviting the Duke Cream from Veronica for another visit tomorrow. He's eager to correct his…insolent behavior from the last time he saw you."

The princess didn't bother answering and instead let out a frustrated sigh as the sound of her maid's footsteps echoed down the hall. The setting sun illuminated the crimson strand and her fingers loosely wrapped around it, her weak pout quivering as she tugged on the phantom satin.

"I'd rather have you, whoever you are..."

~000~

"The princess!" Spetto screamed as she ran into the King's throne room. Jude was sat upon his seat with the Duke at his side, their conversation halting at her interruption. "She's gone!"

"What in the world do you mean, woman? I'm sure that no good daughter of mine has just buried her nose in one of those god awful fairy tales again. Have the guards search the library for her," He gruffed, rolling his eyes as her demeanor became more hysterical and shaken.

"I have, your highness! The princess has run away, she's truly nowhere to be found!"

"And just when I was about to be introduced to my bride," The Duke frowned and tossed his bleached hair aside. "Send hounds after her, why don't you? I will not let this girl make a fool of me on this glorious day."

"Go on, then," The King glared at his guards standing nearby who quickly rushed out the door. "I should have known that girl would be trouble. Her mother had always filled her head with nothing but pure nonsense."

Lucy lifted her billowy skirt as she ran through the woods, deep within its darkness, trying her best to ignore the now wailing trumpets of distress audible in the distance. She knew it wouldn't have been long until someone noticed her absence, especially after having heard the reality behind Duke Cream’s visit.

It was by chance, an incident that occurred while she was passing her father's office the night before. Lucy heard the plans he made to arrange her marriage to the Duke, ensuring that their kingdom would absorb the principality. This meant her father would have an entire stronghold on the country of Fiore.

A life with that obnoxious and narcissistic Duke was not one she wanted, nor could even stand the thought of.

So, in a panic, she made plans to run away, leaving when the guards wouldn’t be around, going as far as she could go without any clear signs of which direction she'd taken off in. She persevered through her tiredness with the lone thought of her meeting her soulmate who was sure to greet her with a wide smile and open arms.

"This way! C'mon now, you'll never make it running without anywhere in mind!" A voice tinkled through the line of trees, halting the princess in her place as she breathed harshly and darted around scared eyes.

"Who's there! I-I'm not going back to the castle!" Lucy shouted as she turned about in circles, shrieking as a short blonde girl suddenly appearing from thin air

"Did I say I was trying to take you home? No! Now hurry it up! You'll never make it there if you make stops like this, follow me!" She instructed, turning toward the trees and beginning to run.

"Who are you?" Lucy asked between pants as she followed the shorter blonde, mesmerized by the trail of sparkles she left behind her, and the cute wings peeking out from beside her ears.

"A friend," She smiled as she continued maneuvering them through the woods. "And a guide! You’ll never get where you need to go without my help,"

"So you know where I'm going? You can see my string too?"

"Well, sure! I let you see it after all. Boy, was he worried when I told him you were stuck out here without your magic. Idiot almost killed himself trying to find his way through, but it can't be done by anyone but a spirit." She sighed and shook her head, rambling as they avoided a patch of bramble bushes

"My soulmate...? He was looking for me too? Really?" Lucy felt her heart swell, beating stronger even as she ran, a dazzling smile taking its claim of her lips.

"Yup! You have a very loyal man waiting for you," She giggled. "He can't wait to meet you, said he'd get his house ready and everything while I was out looking for you. I apologize for taking so long, moving around in this realm isn't easy, there’s barely any magic in this land!”

"Magic? Like in books? Isn't that practice all made up?" The princess quirked a brow as the strange girl only giggled again and slowed her movements as they found purchase under the wide berth of a willow tree.

"It's quite amazing someone like you was born here when your home is with us, in the right Fiore. Now, come on! Everyone's waiting!" She grinned, ignoring Lucy's confusion as she pulled them through the hanging branches, the two suddenly falling into the void of the trunk.

"E-Eh?! W-Wha…!" Lucy fell to her knees as she suddenly felt queasy, holding a hand to her head and waited for her headache to subside. She looked up to see where the other blonde had gone, not finding her anywhere and instead met a new and sunny skyline. "Wasn't it…night just a moment ago?"

She stood to her shaky feet, finding her body no longer weighed down by exhaustion, tears, or dirt on her dress. Whatever was in the air made her feel light as, well, air. She'd never felt so amazing before! Just where had she gone when they fell through that tree?

Taking some small steps through the field in front of her, she looked down to her finger, the red string extending into the distance behind her.

"Oh wow…" When Lucy turned around, she was met with the image of a town she had never seen before, curiosity pulling her towards the bustling streets.

It was as she always imagined the streets of the village she ruled above looked; stalls serving food and selling fresh produce, children running and laughing, patrons bartering and making light conversation, happiness in everyone's eyes. Their smiles created her own, and she followed the string eagerly, feeling just right in the Fiore she’d been led to.

She worried this would all turn into a dream soon enough, there couldn't possibly be another Fiore…or the existence of magic at that. Her steps quickened as she feared Spetto would be in at any moment to wake her, feet carrying her towards a patch of woods that broke off from the town.

It would’ve made nice for a peaceful walk if she didn’t think the calm scenery before her would disappear.

“Oi, Gray, watch it!” A sharp voice boomed from the nearby distance.

“Shut it! I know what I’m doing, it ain’t hard to paint a wall, flame brain!”

“Don’t start a fight! We had to rebuild that side of the house five times because you two keep knocking it down!”

Lucy slowed down her pace as the volume of their argument increased but kept her eyes on the string that told her he was just ahead.

Her eyes landed on a red-haired girl pointing a large sword at two boys who kneeled respectively in front of her, bowing their heads as she scolded them.

Breaking through the line of trees, Lucy smoothed down her stray hairs and dusted off her dress, holding herself nervously as she continued forward.

Each step closer made her legs feel like jelly, flushed her cheeks, and made her heart beat a million times faster, her fingers twitching as she held her hands together.

“U-Um...excuse me…?” Lucy’s voice was shaky as she approached the three, her eyes watery as she stared at the pink-haired boy who raised his head at the sound of her voice. The string fell into his lap; he was her soulmate.

The red-haired girl turned to face her first, eyes concerned as they fell on her disheveled appearance. “My goodness, are you okay? You’re not lost, are you?”

“N-No...I—“

"Oh, crap! It's you!"

"Don't say that to a girl, idiot! You have no idea who that is!" The raven-haired boy threw a glare at the pink-haired one who quickly stood up.

“Mavis didn’t tell me when you’d get here, I would’ve come to pick you up if I knew you were...oh, hey, don’t cry, okay? Um, here,” He quickly took the end of his scarf to wipe her tears, feeling a knot in his throat as she gently fell against his chest. "It's gonna be okay."

"I just...I just can't believe…" She shook her head, not minding the stain she created on his shirt. "That you're real...that you were waiting for me."

"'Course I was! Having a new family member is always exciting, and my hearts been leapin' like crazy waitin' for you! You were stuck out there all alone and I couldn't come find you. I'm sorry it took so long."

Erza forced herself and Gray to look away as the blonde hastily kissed their wild companion, his shock present in the stiffness of his back.

He was startled by the sudden action but felt himself melting into the touch, desperate as well to be close to his soulmate.

"I'm home," Lucy laughed with a bit of surprise, Natsu's eyes widening along with his grin.

"Yeah! Welcome back!"

#nalu #fairy tail #natsu dragneel #lucy heartfilia #natsu and lucy #natsu x lucy #lucy and natsu #lucy x natsu #nalu day 2021 #nalu day

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ibis-gt · 3 years ago

Note

20. “I never thought I’d be here.” For any character that you feel fits!

hollers FOOBAWWWWW into the void... here have some little guys getting set up

~~~

Two tiny figures scampered across the locker room floor of the Globe Stadium. It was nearly one in the morning and they were the only living beings in the place. They were headed towards the door that led to the coach’s office, which had been left ajar just for them. Their night vision was superb, but one of them, Boots, fumbled for the lights anyway. A tall standing lamp sat right next to the door, and an extra long thread had been tied to the cord so that the five inch tall men could operate the light. Boots had to put his full weight on the thread and jump a few times to finally tug hard enough to turn it on.

The office had been rearranged slightly to accommodate the pair. Two desks now sat facing each other with a few feet of space between them. Furniture obviously yoinked from various nieces’ and nephews’ dollhouses was scattered across the top of one, providing places for the two borrowers to work, plan, write, sleep, and eat. There were rope ladders stretching from each corner of the desk to the floor so that they could climb up on their own. The other desk was covered in stacks of paperwork that the team’s manager was supposed to fill out, but which usually fell to Cam to deal with.

“I never thought I’d be here,” Luther said behind Boots, still hesitating in the doorway.

“I always knew I’d be here,” Boots replied. He stopped and turned to face Luther, beaming at him. “With your help. You and me, Luther, me and you. Look at all this! We did this together.”

Luther scoffed. “Didn’t I tell you not to do this about a hundred times?”

“Only bolstering my resolve! You know me so well, you know I’m motivated best by spite. If you’d gone along with it from the start, I would’ve given up.”

“I don’t pretend to understand your reasoning,” Luther sighed, “But I’ll take your word for it.” He took his first careful steps into the office, glancing around as though he expected to be ambushed at any moment. “We still have to share this place, though?”

“Yeah, well,” Boots waved a hand dismissively. “Big guy wants to keep an eye on us, I guess. Soon as he sees how good we are, he’ll give us more space.” Boots bit back a leer and a teasing comment about how he thought Luther would love the chance to get up close and personal with Cam. He gestured for Luther to follow him and headed for their desk. After a moment, he heard the telltale skittering of tiny claws against the floor, and smiled.

They shimmied up the rope ladder one after the other and stood by the edge of the desk, just taking in their surroundings. Boots approached a dresser and swung the doors open. It was empty except for a note, which he unfolded and read aloud.

“‘Once I get your measurements I’ll make you guys some clothes if you like.’ And then he’s written ‘XOXO’ and crossed it out, and under it he’s written, ‘is that too unprofessional? Sorry’, and signed it ‘from Hugh’. Huh.”

“Measurements? We’re both fifteen palms high, right?”

“I think he means in human units. Like, remember that tailor’s where we borrowed that velvet? They had those yellow strips all coiled up with numbers down it. Those things.”

Luther’s nose wrinkled. “How’re we supposed to know how many of those we are?”

Boots shrugged. “Guess we’ll have to borrow a yellow coil.” He tucked the note back in the dresser and continued on.

None of the doll furniture had been designed to actually be used, so the team had made modifications here and there for the borrowers. There were two little beds whose original mattress - made of poor quality styrofoam covered in scratchy fabric - had been removed and replaced with a little handmade cushion each, soft fabric stitched together and stuffed with cotton balls. The similarly scratchy blankets were replaced with specially sized bedsheets and quilts.

Luther stared critically at the beds, only size to hold one of them at a time. “Are we supposed to just… lie on these?”

“I guess? Weird.” They got to work tugging the covers and mattresses off and arranging them in a little pile. It wasn’t quite as big as their nest back home, but it was a start. Luther pushed the bedframes off the side of the desk and dusted off his hands, enjoying the sound they made as they crashed into the floor below.

Next, they examined the scattered little tables and chairs set up in the middle of the desk. There were stacks of scrap paper cut to various sizes, sticks of charcoal and graphite, a cut up eraser, and a set of fingerpaints. Evidently these were for making notes and drawing out plays. Boots nodded his approval. There was even a tiny chalkboard with a thimble full of shards of chalk in different colors.

“They’ve got us pretty well set up here,” Luther said. He picked up a shard of charcoal and scribbled a smiley face on one of the smaller sheets of paper.

“Yeah, we move a few things from the nest over and we’re all good to go.” Boots eyed a tiny hat stand with a few doll hats hanging from it. He tried on a top hat, but didn’t like how it pinched his ears, so he put it back.

“No,” Luther said. “We shouldn’t move anything from the nest. We might need it in case…” He trailed off and stared at the ground.

Boots sighed. “I hate to admit it, but you’re right. I’ve got high hopes for this team, but… well, you never know.” He walked over to where Luther stood and put his chin on Luther’s shoulder. “I think we’ll be okay. Look, they’re already bending over backwards to accommodate us. That friendly really sealed the deal, I think. You can feel the confidence, we’re ready to get back in there and fight.”

“What happens after the first loss?” Luther said, voice soft and quiet. “What happens if they lose two in a row? Or three? What if you’re wrong, and you don’t know how to coach a team, and it all falls apart? Are they still going to be this nice and accommodating?” There was no anxiety, no worry in his tone. It carried a tinge of inevitability. Luther wasn’t scared this might happen, Boots realized. He’d already decided it was going to.

“We’ll see. I don’t think they’ll turn on us - this is a last ditch effort anyway. I’m not burning any bridges til we get to them.”

“Okay,” Luther said with a shrug. “We’ll see.”

They were quiet for a long moment. There was still a lingering tension in the air between them, a pervading awkwardness that stretched like a string from one to the other. Boots needed some way to cut it.

“C’mon, let’s see if they’ve restocked the vending machines yet. I’ll get you a thing of prawn cocktail Walkers or die trying.”

That got Luther to crack a smile. He loved watching Boots struggle with that machine.

“Dinner and a show? Fine, I’m game.” He placed the charcoal stick carefully back on the table and wiped the smudges that stuck to his hand off on Boots’ poncho. They descended the rope ladder and turned out the light, and all was quiet and still once more.

#ask #ask game #writing #g/t #giant tiny #cam and luther #football au #yes every time i picture a locker room i picture the one from t*d l*sso #i will accept any bullying i receive for this

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icyteaa · 4 years ago

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So … I just read the recent manhwa. I don't know why, but I don't find anyone who talks about this, so I will speak up.

This picture:

I don't know why, but this picture makes me very sad. I imagine the hardships Alberu had gone through since he was just a kid after his mom died, until he finally found a new family and friends (Cale and Co.).

My heart shattered as I thought about it. And I can't help but want to write something for him. So this is it. Headcanon that I dedicated to our beloved Crown Prince.

TCF Headcanon

[Found A Family]

Alberu dreamed last night. He didn't know he should say it was a good dream or a nightmare. He sure, finally met his mother again even if it's in a dream is a very good thing that rarely happens, but he too can't avoid the sorrow he felt after he wakes up from that dream. It makes him remember short but precious moments—the best memories he has in the twenty-four years he lives, mourning about it and wanting it to come back; to feel it again.

Alberu sighed without he can even resist. His morning felt rather gloomy because of that, but his responsibility as a Crown Prince in the middle of war never waited for him to get ready; so he took a bath and let the maid help him with the clothes. Push aside his feelings to the corner of his heart and wrap his prince-like behaviour that should never disappear in front of his people just like any other day.

He found a particular message in his communication device while he sorted all messages from his vassal and subordinate there. It's from his Aunt, Tasha. It's not something related to his duty, he thought, as he saw there were no formalities in the first greeting. So he just read it after he went through another meeting with noble about preparation for war and had a moment to rest for himself. Because responsibility always comes first than his own interest.

—If you want it, I can take charge of your task for today so you can visit your mother's grave. Don't push yourself too much. At least you can do that today.

Alberu chuckled. But there is no smile in his void eyes. Finally, someone brought it up. After all the silence his subordinate reluctantly acted in front of him, or even just normal behavior because they didn't know what date is today as they didn't have much care for the deceased person; someone finally showed care to him in the way most sincere than any bullshit talk all noble threw. And just like any year he passed, it's always and only his aunt.

Maybe that is why he has a rare dream today. Today is a special and gloomy day. He will never forget it. Nintheen years had passed, but he couldn't erase the grief in his heart. His most beloved person. The only one who is on his side in this cold palace. The only one who looked after him when everyone turned their eyes. The one who affectionately caressed him. It's just five years and still, Alberu can't get away from the sensation; or the fact he wants to feel it once more.

But remember the mountain stack in front of his eyes and duties that he should do today, he shook his head before answering his aunt's massage shortly. Rejected her offer softly before continuing with the paperwork he should read and sign. It's not the time for it. And he knew, he couldn't do it because it meant there would be people who see his weak side. And in this critical moment, that kind of weakness will be very dangerous if the enemies (any other princes or princesses) hold it.

Just like that, there is nothing different in Alberu's schedule. He read and signed paperwork—mountains of it, before he went to another meeting. And without even he realized, the time passed to the night as he found the moon shining brightly and illuminated his study.

It's tiring, of course. But it's not like he can complain much as this is the path he chooses himself. Alberu frequently questions his own decision. Why did he still stand when the favor of King had fallen from him? Why did he still choose to fight his step siblings to get the throne? Is it really just because of the power he will hold as the new King? Or is it because that is his right to have it? Is this continual tiring activity worthy enough for that?

Alberu can't help but let out another sigh. As time passed and he had let his subordinate get a rest while he finished a few more paperwork, he let himself not act as a strong prince without weakness to be pointed out. His too much absent-mindedly thought made him not realise someone had already transported into his study and observed him with absolute silence.

"You look more tired than normal, hyung." Alberu jolted when he heard the man's voice. His face narrowed with a big frown and his body all tensed up, before he realised his body again after he saw whose voice that he heard. He scoffed when he found the man so-called his sworn brother, stoicly staring at him while sitting on the couch opposite him. He huffed under his breath, "Can you step into my room with more proper attitude just like any other noble do?"

Unfortunately, the man is a few people that he can't really scold or punish even with any improper behavior he did in front of the Crown Prince. So even after receiving just a shrugged shoulder from the man as an answer to his sarcasm question, he just let out another sigh. Really, he didn't know why this man could be very unafraidly approach him. And then again, he didn't know too why he himself was never really angry because of his behaviour. He shook his head and reached another paperwork, "So, what business did our busy young master do in my study this late at night?"

At least Cale, the name of a young master that weirdly came to his life just a year ago, didn't come with an empty hand. They have yet another small meeting, discussing things they should prepare for war while Alberu finishes his paperwork left. It may be close to midnight when they finally end their discussion and Alberu finished his work. He stretched his stiff body before letting out another sigh. As time passed, it seemed he was too comfortable enough to let this young man see his un-prince behaviour somehow, so he didn't care and did it while Cale still observed him silently.

"Aren't you push yourself too much, hyung?" The reddish brown eyes observed him thoroughly. Cale rose his eyebrows with disbelief, as if Alberu's appearance right now made the young man pitited him. Alberu eyebrows rose too, "And whose mess do I take care of the most?" He said jokingly. Yeah, joking because even if he looks quite not like what the man did as he roamed and spread mess, it's too for the greater good of Roan Kingdom. They two know well about that. But still, found Cale scoffed when he heard Alberu complain, sure amusing to be watched.

"Seriously, your highness. I just state the fact, but it looks like our sun is too tired and wronged his subordinate without him even realizing." Cale stood from his couch and bowed in proper manner this time. Alberu could see unpleasant glints in the young man's eyes as they stared at each other, "Then I will take my leave so our sun can rest."

Alberu chuckled. This type of sulky face Cale has made him a bit better. It looks like teasing this young master can make his stressed out body more relaxed. "It's hyung." Alberu rose one side of his lips, "If our beloved hero can help this tired human, how about accompanying me with a few glasses of wine?"

They have a quiet night with just the voice of glasses collided with each other. He let his sober fly away as the wine passed his throat. His memories of his mother filled his mind. He didn't even realize that he talked about his memories with the young master. He didn't remember much, but he knew Cale heard his stories patiently until his body flopped into the table and his consciousness faded.

"I miss my mother." Alberu heard himself mourning as his body was lifted and Cale carried him in the shoulder. This can happen just because his consciousness disappeared bit by bit, and he wasn't in the state to care about pride. He is sad. And he really misses his mom. Cale, who is still by his side, is the only place he can mourn as he pleases.

He could see his way to the bed not smooth as the weak young man staggered to support him. Nevertheless, Alberu succeeded in plopping on the bed surface before Cale dragged his body again so he could lie down properly. He saw Cale's face that sat on the edge of bed. The young man still shut himself even if Alberu wanted to hear his response. It makes him a bit upset, so he scoffed, "You don't even react. Are you don't care about that either?"

Cale sighed softly. Alberu felt a warm hand in his forehead pat him stiffly after that. "If I didn't care, I would have left you alone a long time ago." Alberu shut himself as he felt the warmth caressed his head. It is surely not as soft as his mom did; but he can feel the same warmth. The one he really likes, and the one he really misses. His body relaxed more as the hand adjusted the hand move and running in his head more gently. "If you care … don't die. Don't leave me alone."

The hand stopped for a moment before doing his task again while another one moved the blanket to Alberu's neck to keep him warm. "I'm not planning on dying." He can hear Cale's voice. That voice calmed him down; like a lullaby his mothers always sang to make Alberu sleep. And finally, Alberu shut his eyes slowly and his consciousness faded fully as he heard the last sentence from the young man, "Rest, hyung. You deserve to have it."

In his dream, he met his mother again. But unlike today, he can feel this is going to be a good dream he has tomorrow as he finally comes to the realization that, he isn't alone. His mom couldn't support him again nor caress him, but someone had filled the hole in his sorrowful heart. Someone had reached his hand toward Alberu. Someone who can he call his younger brother—dongsaeng. Maybe he will not admit it openly, but he knew his heart had already accepted the man's existence.

If tomorrow he felt embarrassed because of his mourn in front of the young man, let it be the story for tomorrow. Just for today, he felt content. Because finally he realized; he had found a family.

Note:

I labelled this as TCF Headcanon, not AlbeCale because I want to write this not as AlbeCale stan, but as a fan of Alberu Crossman. I love him and I want him to be happy after all he has gone through up until now.

Please shower Alberu more love. Not just because of his looks or his relationship with Cale, but because of his entire existence. He deserves it🥺

#trash of the count's family #tcf #lout of count’s family #cale henituse #alberu crossman #family #albecale as family #I love them so much #tcf headcanon

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alderaani · 4 years ago

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prison break (echo x reader)

A valentines gift for @just-some-girl-92 as part of the event being run by @starwarsfandomfests! Thanks so much for putting another one of these together @lilhawkeye3, and I really hope you like this Dell! I think credit for white haired Echo goes to @/amiro-art? That was the first place I saw it anyway, and I’ve really liked the headcanon that it’s like that post-techno union ever since!

Based on this prompt: Character A moves in next to Character B. They have conjoined balconies and A's pet/child wanders into B's apartment.

Fives and Echo are both reunited and well in this because everyone gets to be happy on Valentine’s Day and I said so. We don’t need canon on this blog.

The other side of the wall explodes with noise.

It makes you pause, looking up from the knitting trailing over your knees to cock your head towards the opposite apartment. You think you hear the screech of furniture legs being pushed along the floor, then the frantic rumble of several male voices speaking over the top of each other, the clatter and clang of things as they are removed and replaced.

It’s odd. When Tith-Mar lived next door, you used to hear it every time he coughed, or swore at that awful old holodrama he used to watch every Taungsday. As much as you tried to stop yourself you couldn’t help but get invested, and that was almost worse. Out of pride you never put it on your own unit, but that just meant you ended up half pressed against the wall, eventually not even pretending you weren’t listening to Capula and Mont confess their love. It had given you something to talk about, anyway, when you went onto the balcony to water your plants and he went out there to smoke the fancy deathsticks he joked he’d live and die by.

In the year since the war ended and Tith-Mar was finally able to move back out to be with his daughter on Ryloth you’ve never quite gotten used to the quiet. There was a strange comfort in knowing that there was someone on the other side of the wall. Maybe it came from the three years of water shortages and occasional outages - or, notably, the rampage of the Zillo beast, which hadn’t come quite close enough to flatten you in your sleep, but had downed enough of the power grid that you’d been locked in your apartment for five rotations. You miss the soft Rylothi folk music he used to play in the mornings, and you miss seeing him sometimes, blowing smoke up into the brisk Coruscant mornings with his blue lek, faded now in old age, wrapped around his neck like a scarf.

You just miss the comforting assurance of having someone else there. If it wasn’t for the sound of the door going, and the occasional thump of something being moved, you’d hardly know that you had neighbours at all now. It’s almost funny to think back on the furore it caused when the Republic bought the apartment for GAR resettlement. It led to the only neighbourhood meeting the building has ever had, and you’ve been very glad for that fact after discovering that a solid faction of your fellow citizens are bigots. It’s something you knew, objectively, but witnessing it from the people you personally rub shoulders with was a harder pill to swallow than having to watch some of the anti-clone protests on the holonews. You’ve not tried to remember the more colourful misconceptions about clone troopers aired by prim soft-handed mid-levellers as they sat in a lobby you can remember the Coruscant Guard clearing rubble from with nothing but their hands. However, you do very vividly remember someone from two floors up asking you if you’d ‘really feel safe’ living next to ‘those walking warmongers’, being young and living on your own. You’d shut that down, of course, and the resulting vote had passed in favour.

You’d honestly half expected the troopers to reject the place after that, and you wouldn’t have blamed them either.

Everyone had known the day they moved in, had pretended not to watch as a GAR issue speeder loaded with two armoured figures and a meagre quantity of possessions had pulled up on the walkway and made their way cautiously inside. You’d thought about introducing yourself, knocking or something, but concluded in the end that they didn’t need anyone else ogling them. You’d figured that there would be plenty of time for that later...and now here you are, a whole year on, and that glimpse is just about the closest you’ve ever gotten to them. You think they still spend a lot of time off-planet, helping with the reconstruction missions the now-voluntary GAR conducts throughout the Mid and Outer Rims. You hadn’t even been sure that they were home at the moment, actually.

There’s no doubting it now, as the frantic thumps and raised voices continue. Through your balcony door, cracked open to catch some of the soft breeze the weather engineers have scheduled today, you can make out a little of what their voices are saying, one frantic and forceful, the other softer, but no less worried.

“ - kriffing hell, can’t believe we’ve lost...Rex will have our heads…”

“...can’t have gotten far...can’t even walk!”

“ - already checked the fresher, Echo!”

“It can’t hurt to check twice...knew we shouldn’t have…”

You bite your lip, turning round while debating whether you should offer your help. Then you freeze. The baby on the other side of your caf table freezes too, chubby hand poised to grab the cookie you’d been saving for later. They’re standing on legs that wobble a bit, and there’s a glint of steely determination in the dark eyes that fix on your face.

“Hello,” you say a little weakly, realising very abruptly what the troopers must have lost.

The kid appraises you for a moment longer, brow furrowed and intent. There’s a huge amount of judgement there for such a small face, those focused eyes taking you in for several very long seconds. Then they huff, and very deliberately turn their attention back to the cookie. You smother an incredulous laugh.

“Not impressed, huh?” You say, carefully setting your knitting aside and uncovering your legs. “Can’t say I blame you, I prefer cookies too.”

The baby doesn’t dignify this with any attention, instead making a soft crowing noise as their little fingers strike victory and retract with the cookie firmly in grasp. When they immediately move to cram it into their mouth you burst into action, leaning across the caf table to swipe it. Just those mere seconds of contact have made it slightly damp.

The baby’s face scrunches in outrage, and they let go of the table edge, sinking down onto their padded bottom with a sharp, high noise of annoyance. They don’t cry, but the frown is something spectacular.

“Sorry, kid.” You force yourself the rest of the way up, keeping a hold on the cookie with one hand. Can kids this young even eat solid foods yet? Do they have any allergies? You don’t have any siblings, so the last time you were around a baby was when you were one. For all this one’s bravado, they look awfully breakable. “I’ll hang on to this for now, yeah?”

You don’t think that they’re old enough to understand what you’re saying, but the huff the baby lets out feels extremely pointed. You stare down at them on your rug.

“Don’t suppose you could give me any pointers on how to hold you?”

It turns out babies are wriggly. You put the cookie down long enough to hoist the kid into your arms and attempt to manoeuvre their little arms and legs so that they’re not jabbing into your vital organs, but at the sight of the food being placed far away, the kid lets out a piercing noise, right into your ear, and attempts to kamikaze their way back to it. A body that two seconds ago was ramrod solid and deliberately unwieldy is suddenly boneless and impossible to hold onto. Your brain goes empty of everything but wrestling with several pounds of struggling infant.

You end up on the floor, eventually, but at least both of you are in one piece. You’re breathing heavily. The kid’s face is thunderous. It’s very cute, but you can’t wait to give it back and appreciate that from a distance. Somehow, you manage to settle them onto your hip.

“What the f - heck was that for?” You ask, purely to make yourself feel better. Even if the kid could answer you, you get the feeling they simply wouldn’t. “Was it because I put the biscuit down?”

The kid makes a huffing noise. You roll your eyes, but can’t help smiling. The baby’s dark, just-curling hair is soft against the skin of your upper arm, and their weight is warm and solid against your side.

“I’m not taking it away from you. I’m gonna let you have it, just need to make sure it’s safe for womp-rats first. And return you before those poor guys tear their place apart, okay?”

You re-collect the cookie and struggle back to your feet, looking towards the open balcony. Visions flash through your mind of the baby pulling that boneless trick out there, with nothing but spacelanes separating them from the ground 50 stories below, and...no. You’re not even vaguely risking that. The front door is definitely the better option, but somehow more daunting, as you stand before the neighbouring apartment with your heart in your throat.

The second you knock, the frantic voices inside cut off abruptly, and then you hear the mad scramble that ensues to reach the door. It wooshes open, and suddenly you’re face to face with your neighbours for the first time.

They’re less identical than you’d expected. Maybe that’s a stupid thought, but it’s the first one that stumbles, half formed and dazed, into the open void your brain has just become. The second, very unhelpful follow up, is that they’re also much prettier than you’d expected. Not that you’d necessarily expected anything, but - you’ve never seen one of the clones without their helmets before. The Corrie Guard, back during the war, had made a point of never taking them off as far as you’d ever seen. That was apparently a crying shame. One of them has thick, dark curly hair, a tidy goatee, and a tattoo on his forehead. The other’s hair is a sharp, startling white, interrupted by metal nodes of some sort. Some sort of post-war medical adaptation, you assume. He’s slightly leaner all over, his eyes a little larger in his face. But the way both of them sag against the door frame is exactly the same.

“Thank the fucking force,” The dark haired one breathes, clutching at his chest.

The other trooper elbows him sharply in the ribs. “Fives.”

“She’s ten months old, Echo. She’s not gonna repeat it.”

“She just escaped from our apartment after General Skywalker swore up and down she’s not mobile yet. It’s gonna be her first word just to spite us.”

You laugh before you can stop yourself and flush a little when all attention snaps back to you.

“That I can believe,” you force yourself to say. “Hi. I think I found something of yours.”

You hold out your armful of infant and - you presume Fives is his name - reaches out to take her, groaning in relief.

“Thank you,” he says, fervent, taking a moment to bury his face into the child’s hair. She puts a determined thumb into her mouth and stares at your hand, still clutching the cookie. The trooper turns her in his arms and holds her up at eye level. “You are a menace, Leia. I thought we were gonna have to call in a search.”

It’s nice to have a name for that little displeased face. Leia regards the trooper for a moment before sticking her hand into his face. His eyes are impossibly warm as he pretends to gobble her fingers, and it is, quite frankly, cute as fuck. He turns his attention back to you, but just as he opens his mouth, the sound of a comm going off somewhere behind them cuts through the moment.

“That’ll be the General,” The white-haired trooper laughs. “You better take her and show him, before he raises down half of Coruscant trying to get here.”

Fives nods, flashing another blinding grin at you, before he and Leia are gone. The trooper you’re left with blows out a breath and scrubs a hand over his face.

“Well,” he says, his mouth crooking into a wry smile. “That was exciting.”

He sticks his hand out, and when you take it, his palm is rough and his grip firm. You give him your name without thinking about it, staring into the kind, golden depths of his eyes. They crinkle at the corners when he grins.

“I’m Echo. And - I know Fives already said it, but seriously, thank you. Where the shab did you find her?”

“Trying to steal biscuits from my caf table,” you say, laughing openly when Echo drops his face back into his hand and groans with embarrassment. “I think she got in through the balcony door.”

“Force, we didn’t even think of that. What a first impression, you must think we’re idiots.”

You shake your head, enamoured by the faint colour you can see rising in his cheeks. He brings his metal hand up to his face and presses the cool prosthetic against his skin.

“Not at all. You should have seen the look she gave me when I found her, she knows she’s in charge.”

Echo smiles bashfully. “It’s the first time we’ve ever won the lot to babysit the twins, our Company would have crucified us if we’d lost her.”

“Then I’m very glad to have provided a rescue.”

There’s a short silence as you fidget with your sleeves, strange anticipation churning in your gut. There’s no reason to keep standing here now that the pleasantries are done with, the baby exchanged, but...some part of you resists it, almost looking for an excuse to stay. He and Fives are the first new friendly faces you’ve met in a long time, soothing a sting you didn’t know was there.

“I - um -,” Echo begins suddenly, shifting a little. The colour in his face deepens. “I really like your plants. I’ve always meant to say something. We keep trying to guess what they are.”

“Oh!” Your heart turns over in your chest and you wouldn’t be able to stop the smile bursting onto your face if you tried. Those damn things are so hard to keep alive through the unpredictable engineered weather. You don’t think you’re particularly house proud, but you do preen a little that he’s noticed. “Thank you, I, um, I water them every morning. I could...go through them with you one day? If you like?”

Echo’s head dips an assent. “I’d really like that.”

You linger a moment longer, a pleased thrill still lingering in your belly, but there’s no putting it off now. “I suppose I should let you go. But...please knock if you need anything.”

Echo smiles. “Hopefully not in pursuit of any more babies.”

You’re just about to turn away when you remember the cookie in your hand, slightly smushed now. “Oh! Can you give this to Leia? I wanted to make sure she could eat them, first, but I promised. Seemed only fair, since she went to all that trouble.”

Echo huffs, his expression softening, taking the cookie with careful hands. “I’ll make sure her highness gets it.”

Then you go back to your quiet apartment, somehow deflated when faced with the monotony of your knitting and your music. You hear a few more sounds from the other side of the wall, faint laughter, perhaps a child squealing, and find your curiosity has not been sated at all.

It’s a wonderful surprise, then, when two days later on a clear, sunlit morning, you slide open your balcony door to water the plants and find Echo waiting, his face tipped up to the brightening sky. There is a packet of cookies resting on the duracrete by his feet, and two steaming mugs of caf on the railing by his elbow.

It feels like something special...It feels like a beginning.

taglist // @nelba @leias-left-hair-bun @battletales @bad-batch-of-fics @iscream4clones @majorshiraharu @snippytano @missinashkin @808tsuika @eries45 @dom-i-nic //

#arc trooper echo #echo #arc trooper echo x reader #echo x reader #echo x you #arc trooper fives #fives #the clone wars #star wars #the clone wars fic #alderwrites

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daisybeewrites · 3 years ago

Text

Academy Blues

sometimes you punch the bag, sometimes to bag punches you

word count: 4.5k

warnings: none. heavy handed use of italics

ship: Dousy (Daniel Sousa/Daisy Johnson), background Fitzsimmons and Philinda

ahaha.. and the fun begins (the cryptic-ness is for a reason i promise)

“Ow!!” Daisy exclaimed. This was the second time today she had gotten distracted and let the punching bag swing into her. Sans Bobbi or Mack, her usual workout partners, there was no one to hold the bag still while she was pummeling it. Her side of the gym was entirely void of people, most opting to use the treadmills or other cardio machines lining the wall of large windows that faced the forest to the south, or stick to circuits on the resistance machines throughout the middle of the gym. The universe seemed to be telling her to get in some boxing, so she walked over to the bag with the intention of punching until her arms hurt.

Now her nose hurts, too.

“You need a spot?” May asked, silently crossing the padded floor to Daisy.

She nodded. Waiting for May to get into position, Daisy stretched out her arms over her head and across her body, twisting her torso to feel her abs stretch. When May gave her a thumbs up, Daisy started to punch the heavy bag again, this time with a little more force now that she knew it wouldn’t fly back and hit her in the face.

“Something on your mind?”

“No,” Daisy grunted. “Just slacked off the last few weeks. With everyone gone on break there wasn’t as much of... everything, I guess, to keep me in a routine.”

May nodded. “Breaks can be tough. No classes, schedule disrupted, more free time than you know what to do with. I get it. If you ever want a time-filler, text and I’ll be there.”

Daisy nodded, going back to silently punching. The breaks weren’t all bad. They only happened eight times a year, five two-week breaks and three three-week breaks. Enough time that those with families and lives outside of SHIELD could visit and vacation, but not fall behind. Plus, it gave Daisy the campus pretty much to herself. Only about forty students stayed at The Academy over breaks, and it seemed to decrease every time.

Another good thing about breaks was that Daisy got to know more people personally. Whether it was how the tall, fifth-year red head took her morning coffee or that the new group of first-years liked to run the same trails through the forest as she did. So, when an entirely new face had cropped up out of nowhere, Daisy was intrigued. He walked with a limp, had nice hair and kind eyes. She didn’t recognize him, and despite the fact that he had arrived the same day as the rest of the first-years, he was definitely the oldest of the pack. That was unusual, Daisy had thought, SHIELD almost always recruits directly out of high school or college. The last time anyone over the age of twenty-five had been accepted to the Academy was when Daisy herself had started. However, that was a bit of a… special situation.

Every morning, New Guy crossed through the computer lab and waved, smiling confidently at Daisy. His sudden appearance and amicable interactions confused her. Classes weren’t in session, but he always had a backpack with him. Maybe he had tutoring with one of the professors? A new student trying to catch up before the term even began — an enigma.

Once classes had started, he still came by everyday. Daisy liked to think it was because he wanted to see her. They had never spoken more than tired greetings to each other, and yet Daisy felt herself pulled towards him. She shook off the thought. It made her skin crawl, thinking about the last time she felt such a magnetic attraction to someone.

She realized May was studying her through the mirrors lining the wall next to the row of punching bags. She cleared her throat and asked, “Is my form okay?”

May gave her a long look that clearly said, ‘You know that your form is fine.’

Daisy pulled her eyes away from May’s stare, announcing, “I’m going to fill up my water, do you need any?”

May shook her head, pulling out her phone.

Daisy bent down to grab her water and headed to the back of the gym, towards the locker rooms. A couple of reusable bottle-filler stations were stuck into the wall, right next to the PT rooms. Daisy couldn’t help but peer into the closest one as she listened to the sound of water streaming into her bottle. It was filled with floor ladders, yoga balls, sports med supplies... New Guy. Huh.

Wondering why he would be sitting in a dark PT room by himself, Daisy took a swig of her water before continuing to fill it up. He hopped off the table as the lights came on, a young doctor-type walking in a smiling. She was reminded of his limp when he walked towards her, shaking her hand and flashing a large smile. Cute, Daisy noticed. Wait, no, what?

Daisy promptly turned and headed back to the wall of mirrors, choosing to ignore the smirk on May’s face.

“Ready?” Daisy asked.

“Actually,” May began, “Why don’t we get in some sparring? You’ve been at this for over an hour.”

Daisy caught the glance May threw at the half-assed wraps on her hands and nodded. With only a few jitters, Daisy quickly helped May unroll the sparring mats onto the floor. Daisy had only sparred with Yo-Yo since she got back from Columbia visiting her cousin. Sparring with May was an entirely different level.

After some warm-up drills, May silently took charge and got into a fighting stance. Daisy rose up on her tip-toes, then rocked backwards. The grey padding beneath her looked a lot softer than it felt while being slammed onto it. A quick lunge from Daisy and a swift deflection by May, and the two women were off.

Across the gym, Daniel Sousa and the doctor were chatting, watching Daisy and May.

“They look like they’re barely breaking a sweat,” Daniel commented after May leaped off Daisy’s leg, flipping forwards and attempting to grab Daisy around the shoulders. Daisy rolled backward, throwing May over her and getting to her feet as the shorter woman jumped up into a wide stance.

“You’ll get back to that level,” The physical therapist assured him.

Daniel shook his head. “Maybe. I hope so. If not, I’m a damn good shot, anyway.”

The doctor chuckled before motioning back to the PT room. “C’mon, you still have thirty minutes stuck with me before I release you from daily therapy.”

“It’s only been three weeks?” Daniel questioned, confused. They walked through a black door to a small room. Grey cabinets on one side, a black table on the other, physical therapy tools lined up in organized sections.

“Most of which was just assessing you. You already know the exercises and stretches, and you completed the physical therapy recommended by your primary care physician before you came to us. You have the strength mostly back in your residual limb, at least to the point where sparring shouldn’t do any damage. I still expect you to show up at least twice a week. Especially since you’re starting field training with May.”

He smiled. “How do you know about that?”

“I have access to your file, Sousa,” She reminded him, “I also know you were late to her class on the first day. Not a smart move, in my opinion.”

Daniel cringed at the memory of heads turning his way, watching him limp to the only open seat in the very front. May’s comment— “Thoughtful of you to join us, Agent Sousa,” —still turned his face a slightly embarrassing shade of red when he thought about it.

Noticing his uncomfortable silence, the physical therapist put on a sympathetic face. “I’m sure you’ll be fine. I was late to my first class, too. Professor Martin, advanced physiology. Granted, I was seventeen...”

Daniel playfully glared at her.

“...but I suppose that’s no excuse. Let’s get started.”

The rest of the day went by without Daisy or Daniel seeing much of each other besides a fleeting glimpse while changing classes. Not that they were looking for the other, or anything.

A few hours later, before dinner, Daisy was sitting on the counter in the girls’ dorm bathroom, watching Jemma curl her hair.

Jemma Simmons was one of the only people she immediately loved at SHIELD, and the first person she had trusted on Coulson’s team. Over the course of a couple months, they became closer than Daisy had ever been with anyone, spending almost every waking moment together. Over time, Daisy had grown to love the rest of the team, too, learning that they had also been hand picked by Coulson. Though, technically, Daisy hadn’t been chosen for the team. She was picked up as a consultant. But it didn’t matter, as the ragtag team had quickly been disbanded.

Knives shoved into your back can have that effect.

After the end of the team, Code-named Bus Kids, Daisy, Fitzsimmons, Tripp, and May and Coulson had come to the Academy to continue working with SHIELD. Daisy and Tripp were assigned as partners in their ops training, Fitzsimmons were partners in the lab, and May and Coulson still checked on them as if nothing had changed.

But people get busy, and it had been awhile since Jemma and Daisy had properly talked to each other.

“Does the bruise on my nose look like it’ll go away any time soon?”

Jemma glanced up through the mirror, shrugging. “It should. What did you do to it?”

Daisy fiddled with her hands, only answering when Jemma turned to face her fully.

“I kinda, uhm, got punched...”

The stern look Jemma gave Daisy quickly melted into laughter as the brunette added, “...by a punching bag.”

Reaching up to turn Daisy’s face towards the fluorescent bathroom lighting, Jemma gently ran a finger along the angry red splotch on the top of Daisy’s nose. She jerked her head a bit, wincing at the contact.

“You should be fine, I’ll grab some of the good anti-inflammatory meds from the medical storage.”

Daisy thanked her, hopping off the counter to grab an eyeliner pen. “So, how is Fitz? Is this a real date night or are you guys ‘just hanging out’?”

Jemma smiled at his name and rubbed her neck. Daisy smiled back at the subconscious reaction.

“You two are so meant for each other,” She teased.

Jemma tilted her face up towards Daisy, allowing her to start applying eyeliner.

“He hasn’t really defined it. We’re ‘going out’, but we aren’t dating.”

Daisy finished the subtle cat eye, shaking her head. When would he learn that Jemma would only believe they were together if he said, ‘Hey, Jems, I’m completely and totally in love with you and I want you and I to live happily ever after!’

Daisy watched Jemma inspect herself in the mirror, touching up her mascara.

“You look amazing. He’s a fool if he doesn’t see it,” Daisy assured.

Jemma smiled. Her Sheffield accent had gotten thicker over break, Daisy noticed, as Jemma responded, “He does, I know he does. We both just have trouble, you know? Voicing our thoughts and feelings.”

Daisy definitely knew…

“Well, he could do with a good reminder sometimes. If y’all are going to keep going on these not-dates, you might as well show him what he’s missing by staying just friends!”

Jemma laughed, smiling gratefully. She took one final look in the mirror, swishing her knee-length royal blue dress and fluffing her hair. “Okay, well, off I go. Have a good night, Daisy.”

Daisy gave her a thumbs up and went to watch out her window as Fitz handed Jemma a hand-picked bouquet of (slightly squished) wildflowers and took her arm to lead her to the parking lot.

Daisy sighed and turned away from the gold and pink sunset. She opened her personal laptop, immediately bombarded by three windows running programs. One was running an innocent algorithm to clean all the useless, unused files from her computer, one was a simulation that could (hypothetically, no harm no foul) hack the Pentagon, and another was trying to find video and audio feed from Los Angeles, four months ago.

Daisy’s gaze lingered on the last one, not expecting anything new. She sighed and picked up her laptop, deciding to go visit Mack in the garage. It was only seven on a Friday, he’d probably be there working on the run-down, close to falling apart Harley he had bought off an old friend for $200. Mack had been working on it for months. Daisy wasn’t even sure it had half its original parts.

A short trip across the grounds and a trek over a winding path cut through a field of thick tallgrass later, Daisy arrived at the garage.

The monstrous steel and concrete building was like a plane hangar and mechanics lab forged into one. Workstations around the edge were strewn with tools, motors, and half-finished pieces of tech. Shining black SHIELD vehicles and even two quinjets sat in the middle, outlined by rectangular blocks of tape and paint. Catwalks crossed the upper level so that mechanics could reach the tops of planes when necessary, though SHIELD planes hardly ever came to The Academy unless they were being used for a lesson.

Daisy followed the sounds of tinkering and the quietly moving shadows to Mack’s workstation. She carefully leaned against a nearby SHIELD van, not wanting to interrupt his work.

Now, to say that Mack wasn’t easily frightened was an understatement. Daisy had hardly ever seen the muscled giant of a man so much as jump. Ever since discovering this, Daisy had taken every opportunity to try to scare Mack. It was not going great.

Daisy pulled out her phone, silently thumbing through emails and checking Instagram. She was about to walk over and tap him on the shoulder when Mack turned around and screamed.

Clutching his chest, Mack exclaimed, “Tremors, what the hell?!”

“I just wanted to come check in,” Daisy giggled, happy that she had finally snuck up on Mack.

Mack stood with his hands on his hips, smiling wide, before cocking one thick eyebrow and gesturing at her face.

“What happened to your nose?”

“Punching bag won this morning,” She shrugged.

Mack shook his head, laughing in a deep rumble. “You wanna help me with this?” He asked, pointing to the small device on his desk.

She didn’t answer, just reached out to take a small screwdriver from Mack’s very large hand. He showed her how to twist it to create leverage without it slipping while he messed with some wires, and eventually he seemed satisfied.

“Have you eaten dinner?” Mack asked casually.

Daisy nodded, her grumbling stomach betraying her.

Mack eyed her up and down. “Sure. Well, I’m hungry, so let's get something to eat and then we can take the bikes out.”

Daisy liked the feeling of being on a bike, the wind in her hair and steady vibrations from the engine soothing her ever-present headache. Ever since this revelation, if Mack went out on his motorcycle, he invited Daisy to ride with him.

At first, Daisy had been skeptical. What was so great about a two-wheel speeding death trap? One of her best friends had driven a gleaming 1969 Dodge Charger, and she had enjoyed riding with the windows down, but it still wasn’t the absolute best experience of her life, like most motorcyclists claimed a ride could be. However, once Daisy had finally taken Mack up on his offer, she was never hesitant to accept another invitation.

In the canteen, Mack piled a plate high with salad ingredients and baked spaghetti, scooping some off into a bowl for Daisy once he got back to the table. She took a fork and picked at it, chewing the crisp lettuce slowly.

Once they were both finished, Mack put his plate and utensils on the circling dish belt. He let Daisy lead the way back to the garage. She immediately grabbed two helmets and Mack’s gloves.

“That leather jacket gonna be enough to keep you warm? I have a couple old flannels in my bag if you want one.” Mack offered.

Daisy picked at a loose thread on the worn black jacket, nodding and throwing a ‘Thanks’ over her shoulder. She quickly rifled through his duffel bag, pulling out a faded black and blue flannel and shrugging it on under her jacket.

Mack mounted his black and silver bike, Daisy choosing a smaller SHIELD one. She kicked the kickstand back with her foot, finding her balance. She followed Mack as he revved the engine and took off out of the garage. Daisy heard him speak into the helmet’s mic.

“I upgraded the bikes, bigger tires and a better visor. It’s more efficient. Plus, when I’m out on the highway, cars don’t push me around.”

Daisy gave him a thumbs up, focusing on the feeling of air flowing around her. She sped up as she reached the road. She felt as if she was flying high into the air, fighting the laws of physics. On the back roads surrounding the Academy, as familiar as the back of her hand, Daisy relaxed and let herself fall into autopilot.

She heard Mack in her ear, still talking about the bike. She had heard it all before, but there was something centering about listening to Mack retell the evolution of his bike for the hundredth time, like a kid who begged to hear the same bedtime story every night.

It was freeing, speeding down a deserted road on the bike, stars above and pavement below. Pine trees reached for the sky on each side of her. Shrubbery and grass waved to Mack and Daisy as they raced forward.

A slight burn pricked her eyes that she knew wasn’t from the wind. Daisy needed this after a stressful first couple weeks back in class. To be honest, it was what she needed all the time. Daisy was exhausted. Her powers may not be visible, but they were always on, always bouncing around her body. Times like these, though, Daisy felt free. Releasing the constant grip she had on her self-control, she let the vibrations of the engine flow through her. Slowly, surely, Daisy let her guard down. A whispering warble crept into her ears over the wind. She could feel the way the pavement below and the humid late-August air around her absorbed the miniscule quakes, bouncing lightly off the tall trees like a quiet laugh reflecting off the walls of an echo-chamber.

About an hour later, Daisy and Mack were rolling back into the garage. Daisy couldn’t hide the slight redness in her eyes, but the smile on her face told Mack he didn’t need to worry. The pair silently did maintenance on the motorcycles, re-fueling them for later use and checking for any loose parts on Daisy’s.

Daisy headed back to campus, refusing Mack’s offer to walk her back to the dorms. She would be fine on her own. Besides, Jems might be back by now, she could ask about Fitzsimmons’ date. Or she could wait until breakfast tomorrow and tease them both.

Daisy stopped in her tracks. Out of the corner of her eye, a shadow slipped behind a building. Daisy felt her back tense, her hands curling into fists.

Any remainder of twilight light had faded while Mack and Daisy maintenanced the bikes. Daisy couldn’t imagine that any of the trainees that went to parties at the nearby universities were back yet, but no student in their right mind would want to simply walk around the dark campus of the Academy.

She kept walking, more alert. No sounds apart from her steady breathing and the rustle of grass beneath her feet reached her ears. She walked slowly toward where the shadow had disappeared. It looked as if it was headed to the biochem building. Daisy raised her hands, quietly running towards the white building, slightly crouched. She circled it once, twice, before deciding she had been imagining things, the shadow was only a trick of the light. It seemed so real though, so solid…

Daisy shook her head and crossed the courtyard, heading towards the dorms. It was late, and she had important things to do tomorrow. She was probably just tired from her ride with Mack.

Behind her, unnoticed by Daisy, the shadow quickly crossed the field behind the biochem building, slinking into the tallgrass.

The next day, Daisy woke to the sound of her alarm blaring 90’s RnB at six thirty AM, sharp. She quickly shut it off and stared at the ceiling for a moment before groaning and dragging herself out of bed. She hadn’t gotten much sleep last night after her encounter with the shadow.

The sun was slowly ascending in the sky, golden light filtering into her windows. It was early, but she didn’t have the energy to go workout. Instead, Daisy stretched on her bed and sent a quick text to Jemma asking to meet up later to gossip about her date.

She grabbed shorts and a cropped sweatshirt, quickly dressing and making her way to the bathroom. She clipped her hair back, brushed her teeth, washed her face and headed back to her room. Trying her best to cover the bruise that had turned from red-violet to a blue-ish tinted black, she did minimal makeup. It’s not like it could get any worse, she thought bitterly. The concealer wasn’t much use.

Deciding to ignore the bruise, Daisy stood up, grabbed her backpack with her personal laptop and journal and headed to the canteen.

There weren’t many students around campus this early in the morning. Most were either asleep or nursing a hangover in their dorms. A few dedicated trainees were scattered amongst the different buildings, either in the gym or studying on their favourite bench. Daisy made a beeline for the canteen, hoping that no one had drank all the fresh coffee yet.

She slipped through the doors, sending small smiles to the students she made eye-contact with, faltering when her roving gaze reached a set of twinkling eyes the color of coffee. Maybe, she thought, I should go over and talk to him. What’s the worst that can happen?

She quickly poured herself a cup of coffee and grabbed a cinnamon raisin bagel from the pastry cart. Checking to be sure he wasn’t sitting with anyone (she wouldn’t want to intrude), Daisy walked around to the back of the large room, sitting in a spot diagonal from him.

After a few minutes of silence where Daisy ate her bagel and pretended not to feel his eyes on her, she turned and faced him.

“Good morning,” she said.

He dipped his head and raised his paper cup of coffee at the same time in response.

Does he not want to talk to me? Daisy questioned herself. She tried again. “So, is the coffee good?” He glanced at her cup that she had been sipping. Daisy recovered, “You know, in your opinion. I love the coffee here, the slightly burned aftertaste goes well with cream and sugar.΅

To her relief, he smiled. “Yeah, it’s good. I don’t usually use cream or sugar.”

Daisy raised her eyebrows, impressed. “Ah, more of a bare necessities, no-nonsense guy?”

His nose scrunched a little in thought, as if he was assessing his entire personality to see if it aligned with Daisy’s coffee psychology. He nodded finally, elaborating, “I was in the army. Most of us drank it black while deployed. I never got out of the habit. But, to answer your question, I like to think of myself as low maintenance.”

He sent her a small smile that had her insides melting just a bit. Daisy hid behind the rim of her coffee cup, trying to think of a response. Luckily, New Guy saved her.

“How do you drink your coffee?”

Daisy lowered her own paper cup, clearing her throat. “One half and half, just a bit of sugar. If I’m super tired I’ll add more.”

“So you probably adapt easily and have a deep hunger for answers to all your questions?”

Daisy’s eyes quickly flicked down to her coffee, wondering if her coffee order really exposed that much about her. Daniel laughed, his shoulders shaking with mirth. “I’m kidding. I noticed how you’re always in the computer lab before class, and Yo-Yo told me that you use that time to research.”

Daisy felt a blush creep up her neck. Yo-Yo knew New Guy? And gave him information about her schedule?

Daniel quickly explained, “We see each other in the halls a lot. And we have a class together. She noticed me in the lab and thought I knew you.”

Daisy relaxed. Yo-Yo had become increasingly more friendly to strangers the longer she spent at the Academy.

“I remember the first time I met her. She was so angry that SHIELD had stopped her from exposing the police in her city as corrupt. Our team was sent in to help her finish what she had started, destroy weapons and take down the corrupt members of the department. It was fun,” She chuckled.

Daniel watched her through his thin clear-frame glasses. She winced a little as her nose scrunched with laughter, recalling another story about a mission gone awry that Yo-Yo saved.

“How did you get that bruise?”

“What?”

He pointed to the spot on his face that mirrored the position of the bruise on hers. “The bruise. It looks like it hurts.”

Daisy shrugged, “Not as badly as getting shot. But you know, sometimes you punch the bag, sometimes the bag punches you.”

Despite the playful nature of the statement, Daniel couldn’t help but hear alarm bells in the back of his mind. She had been shot?!

Daisy noticed the change in Daniel’s demeanor and switched tactics, “It’s just a bruise. I wasn’t paying attention and the punching bag flew back and hit me in the face.”

Daniel laughed, becoming more and more intrigued with the enigma sitting across from him. Well, at least this enigma was beautiful, even if she had lost a fight to a punching bag.

A look of pure confusion overtook Daisy’s features. “Excuse me?”

Daniel’s face flushed bright red. He said that out loud. Daisy was still smiling though, Daniel let out a nervous chuckle. The two lapsed into an awkward silence. Daisy was finishing her bagel when he spoke up again.

“It was good talking to you,” he said softly.

Daisy’s eyes wandered his face with an unreadable expression. “Yeah, it was.”

He resisted the urge to offer to walk Daisy to wherever she was going as she headed out of the doors of the canteen, coffee with one half and half and pinch of sugar in hand.

————————————————————————————

hi hellooo! whatd you think? comments and notes are appreciated! (will go back and edit this later, for now i sleep)

tag list: @jaanulore

#agents of sheild #aos #dousy #timequake #fic #angst #fluff #fitzsimmons #mackelena #philindaisy #jemma simmons #leo fitz #daniel sousa #daisy johnson #/#melinda may

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acciomalfoy · 4 years ago

Text

fool’s gold (cedric diggory x reader)

summary: you’ve been best friends forever, and valentines hasn’t meant much until now

a/n: GO FOLLOW @fromashescomephoenixes THIS IS YET ANOTHER COLLAB WITH HER!!!!! FOLLOW NOW AND CHECK OUT HER FICS!!!

“I’m still not happy with you,” I said, and Cedric only laughed. “Stop laughing!” I scowled, and he swung an arm around me.

“The tournament is well and truly over, Y/n, and you never have to go in the Black Lake again.” He grinned at me, and I only scowled.

“You could’ve gotten killed, or worse, lost the tournament!” As a member of Slytherin, winning is absolutely everything. Maybe Ced dying was a tad worse.

“But I won.” His shit-eating grin said it all, and I whacked his shoulder.

“Get off of your high horse.” I shook my head, and he stood up. For some reason he had taken to sitting at the Slytherin table during meals, not that I was about to complain.

“Look’s like Sprout’s about to charge me, I’ll see you in potions?” He asked, and I nodded. Potions was definitely my favourite class, and it had nothing to do with a greasy haired git, but everything to do with the golden boy I sat next to.

“See you then.” Not a second after he left Eleanor Flint clutched my shoulder.

“You’re totally dating! When did he ask you out? Was it right after Chang dumped him, or did he wait a while? Waiting is totally more classy, but I can see Diggory not wanting to wait.” Eleanor babbled, and I stared at her.

“We aren’t dating, and nor does he want to.” I said, but as soon as the words left my mouth I knew I had made a mistake.

“But you want to.” El screeched, and I quickly covered her mouth with my hand.

“No! Cedric still likes Cho, I’m certain of it.” I said, and El pushed away my hand.

“Rumour has it she broke up with Diggory because you were in the lake and not her. If Diggory liked her more than you she would have been in the lake.” El was batshit crazy, I was positive.

“I was in the lake because I’ve been best friends with Ced since first year. I’m not listening to this, El.” I stood up quickly, and before she could continue arguing with me I speed walked my way out of the Great Hall. Good thing too, since I realised that I had left my advanced potions textbook in my dorm.

The dungeons weren’t too far from the Great Hall, and I made it there in what I would consider record-timing. My textbook was on my desk, and it wasn’t until I was leaving did I see the note on my bed.

I gingerly picked up the note, all too aware of how the Weasley twins had it out for the Slytherin house, and froze.

I’m like a crow on a wire, you’re the shining distraction that makes me fly.

I spun around the room, as if the writer of the notes would be standing in front of me, but the room was still, void of life aside Eleanor’s plant that was bordering death anyway.

I shook my head and stuffed the note in one of my robe pockets. I really didn’t have time to contemplate shit like this. With my potions book in my bag, I turned and left the dorm, soon entering the common room and eventually the hallways of the dungeons. I didn’t have to go far, since the potions room was only a couple corridors over. I slid into my seat seconds before Snape swept into the room, and I looked at Cedric who was already staring at me.

“What?” I whispered, and he looked at Snape before replying.

“Where were you?” He asked, and I pulled out my quill, ink pot, and finally some parchment.

My dorm, why?

You left the hall in a rush. Why’d you go to your dorm?

I forgot my potions book. Besides, El was killing me and I had to get out of there.

He nodded thoughtfully, and I decided to listen to Snape for once in my life. Anything to keep my mind occupied.

Later that afternoon, we were sat in the dark, stuffy tower for divination. The scent of lavender and peppermint was already overcoming my senses to cloud my mind and make me feel extremely sleepy. According to Trelawny peppermint was meant to sharpen seeing abilities, however I’m not sure anything can sharpen the non-existent...

Luckily, this was another class with Cedric. Merlin knows why we chose to continue it after OWLs, but I suppose that’s the Slytherin in me again: proving I can do it, and do it best.

Right as I’m preparing to drift into my sleepy daze, Ced nudges me.

“Trelawny. Five o’clock,” he mouths, nodding his head in the direction of my left shoulder.

“Hello dears!” She springs up, slightly like a jack in a box. I entertain the thought of telling her so, but she cuts me off as I open my mouth.

“Have you seen anything in your teacups yet?” She questions, staring at us in a way that is a touch too dramatic for my taste.

“Erm, yes.” I respond, trying to save Cedric’s skin since he just saved mine. Grabbing his emerald green tea cup, I grasp the golden yellow handle, and twist it three times. I’m not sure why... it just seemed right.

I glance at my book, but decide to wing it.

“I see a knight- or er. Perhaps a hero?” Trelawny nods, her eyelids fluttering as she rests them close and furrows her brow.

“No, it’s a knight in shining armour.” I nod, settling on this seeing. Cedric glances up slightly at the word ‘shining’ but shrugs it off quickly. He smirks at me,

“Oh, and what does that symbolise y/n?” His eyes flash slightly with mischief.

“It means you should keep your big mouth shut!” I glare at him, but can’t help cracking into a smile after a moment in his laughing gaze.

“Well dears,” Trelawny chirps at us, grabbing for the cup. “Indeed! I see...”

She gasps as I lazily flick my wand to float the cup off of the ground. I still wish I had remembered this trick when we were working with crystal balls...

“Oh Professor!” I groan miserably, despite the traces of thick sarcasm. “Please don’t say I’m due to die,” I throw myself back in my chair while Cedric tries to hold in a snort.

“I’m afraid you are my dear, in a most unfortunate incident involving a revolving door and a popsicle...”

—

“Charms is the worst.” Cedric groaned from beside me, and I nodded. Charms was fucking boring is what it was.

“Flitwick said it was a practical today.” I remembered, and Cedric brightened up considerably.

“About connecting minds?” He asked, and I nodded.

“I think so, partners?” I answered and asked, but I already knew what Cedric was going to say.

“Howdy.” He tipped an imaginary hat at me, and I sniggered.

“Attention seventh years! I’d like you all to get into pairs, and I will form the mind connecting spell. It will last for just one minute, and there may be minor discomfort as the minute comes to a close. Jordan and Berg, you’re first up.” Flitwick began the charm on the first Hufflepuff and Slytherin duo, and they laughed excitedly as the charm went into effect.

“Diggory and L/n, let’s get to it. Face one another and stare into each other’s eyes.” Flitwick instructed, and Ced beamed at me as we stared at each other.

“Now hold each other’s hands, please.” I felt myself growing sweaty at the thought, but Cedric took my hands with ease, and without breaking eye contact.

His grey eyes were more startling than ever, and I couldn’t help but wonder what the hell the pretty boy was thinking.

“Ut copulare,” Flitwick began murmuring until out of the corner of my eye I watched a flying wand hit the professor. “Oh!” Flitwick let out a startled cry, and Cedric and I nodded simultaneously as we broke eye contact to stare at him.

“Uh oh.” He tittered nervously, and I swallowed. The last time I heard a professor say uh oh was when Slughorn brewed a de-aging potion and it exploded on one of my classmates, rendering them to infancy for a good three weeks. Rumour had it she still used the pacifier from time to time.

“Do you feel okay?” Flitwick asked, and I nodded.

“I feel fine, Professor. In fact, I’ve never felt better.” This was a lie. I had woken up with a knot the size of a rats nest in my hair this morning, as well as having forgotten to do the potions homework last night. However, my teacher looked relieved, so I smiled at him.

“Same here.” Cedric added, and Flitwick sighed.

“Just in case the spell worked, I won’t be able to perform another one on you until at least a week from now.” Flitwick said, and with that he moved to another pair.

“Well I’d say that went well.” Cedric said, and I snickered.

“About as well as your date with Cho.” I was talking about his final date with Cho, which ended in her pouring a milkshake on his head.

“You’re going to be the death of me.” He pinched the bridge of his nose, and I stuck my tongue out.

—

“Salazar, what’s the reasoning for all these decorations?” I asked as we left charms. Pink and red decorations hung from ceiling to floor, and it was then that I realised it was Valentines next week.

“Every year the house elves go overboard. We should talk to them about it sometime.” Cedric wrinkled his nose, and I nodded. This was just too much.

“What’s going on over there?” I pointed to a circle that had formed, and it looked like two people were in the centre of it.

“Only one way to find out.” Cedric said, and we slowly approached it. Adrian, a fellow Slytherin, nodded at me.

“What’s going on?” I asked him, and he gestured to the pair inside the circle.

“They’re trapped until they kiss, because a rose fell from the ceiling right in front of them. It’s magically binding, so we could be here a while.” Adrian explained, and I tugged on Cedric’s arm.

“Did you hear that? It’s like mistletoe, they can’t leave til they kiss. It only happens when two people are in love.” I repeated, and Cedric nodded as we walked away from the circle.

“I barely survived the mistletoe.” Cedric said with a shiver, and I laughed as I remembered the girls that had chased Cedric down while waving mistletoe. It had been a sight for sore eyes.

“It’s okay, Ceddie. Time for lunch!”

—

“Could we maybe eat by the lake?” He asked, already having dodged three eager third years. The Great Hall was as busy as ever, and I noticed I myself was subject to several glares.

“I suppose.” I dramatically consented, grabbing two pumpkin pasties and some carrots with hummus from the nearest table. “Let’s go,” I led the charge.

A particularly determined looking Goyle stood directly in my path, stationed by a suspicious rose. I debated how best to get around, when I felt my feet lift off of the floor altogether.

“Cedric!” I shouted as I was levitated a good ten feet across the hall towards the door. I could only hear Cedric’s laughter as he ran below me, and I ducked as I saw the doorway coming straight for my head.

“Mr. Diggory!” McGonagall was heard shouting across the hall, however we were already halfway to the lake.

Dissolving in a fit of laughter, we sank onto the bank of the lake.

“Ah, back where it all began.” Cedric grinned towards me. I could think of a great deal of memories surrounding this lake, but I wasn’t entirely sure of any that had marked the beginning of something.

“What began?” I nudged him with my elbow and took a rather ‘unladylike’ bite of my pumpkin pasty.

Cerdric shrugged, and responded by taking a large mouthful of his own. He then grinned with a pumpkin paste covering his teeth.

“Ugh, you’re disgusting!” I threw a pebble at him gently. He simply transformed it into a golden finch. And so, another calm, sunny day was passed by the lake.

••••

After lunch, I took a quick trip to the dorms while Cedric was in quidditch practise. I needed to finish this potions essay, and only one person could save me.

“Come on, Y/n! You’re so slow.” Pansy teased as she speed-walked to the dorm, and I only huffed.

“These legs weren’t made for walking!” I shouted as she entered the portrait, and the only response was the faint echo of her laughter.

By the time I stepped through the portrait, the common-room was empty aside a few stray kids from the years below. I walked through the short hallway to our dorm, and Pansy was staring directly at me as I came in, a note in her hand.

“I’m the first to admit that I’m reckless, I get lost in your beauty and I can’t see two feet in front of me.” Pansy read it aloud, and I froze.

“What the fuck is this?” She asked, and I shrugged.

“I don’t know. I got another one yesterday, I kinda forgot about it.” I explained, and Pansy raised an eyebrow.

“That’s sus, but whatever. Come on, let’s get to the library!”

—

“Holy Hippogriff!” I jumped as I felt a hard impact in my lower back.

“You okay y/n?” Pansy frowned as I rubbed my back. I frowned back, puzzled by this unexplained pain.

“I think so? Something just hit me in the back,” I explained, glancing around for the remnants of a prank of some sort. None appeared. Pansy shrugged and returned to her potions work. I gathered my stuff, and debated where to head next.

It was the end of the day, and I had completed all of my homework. So I was blessed with some nice free time. In a last second decision I veered towards the Quidditch pitch to meet Cedric after his practice.

“Hey y/n!” A sweet voice called out as I was about to duck out of the entrance hall.

“Hello Holly!” I spun on my heel. Holly was always quite nice to me, even though most of the Gryffindors avoided me. “How are you?”

“Swell thanks,” she nodded. “Just wanted to say congrats to you and Diggory! You two are so cute together!” I blushed all the way up to my ears.

“No I-“ she was already speeding down the hall back towards the tower. I sighed and continued towards the pitch.

••••

“Y/n!” Cedric waved across the field towards me. I noticed him limping slightly, but didn’t think anything of it.

“How was practice Ced?” I asked, and he only shrugged.

“Managed to take a bludger to the back, but it wasn’t too bad.” He said as he approached me.

“Doesn’t look good if you’re limping. Want to go to Pomfrey’s?” I gestured towards the various windowsills side by side that was the infirmary, and Cedric shook his head.

“I’m fine, Hooch said it would be worn off by tomorrow. Did you get all your homework done?” He asked, and I saw his face flinch.

“That’s it. We’re going to the infirmary. Give me your arm. Besides, my back has been aching since the library. Maybe I can get it checked out.” He held his arm out curiously, and I wrapped it around my shoulder so I could help him put less pressure on his leg.

“Thanks, Y/n.” He said sheepishly, and I smiled at him.

“I got all my homework done, by the way. Pansy even helped me with the last part of the potions essay that we struggled to do, so I’ll explain it tonight or tomorrow.” I said, and Cedric nodded.

“Sounds good, let’s go.”

—

“For some reason you’ve both bruised the exact same area in your lower back. Do you two have anything you’d like to share with me?” Pomfrey stared at us, and Cedric laughed.

“It's a complete coincidence!” He said, and I nodded, but I was mentally frowning.

There’s no such thing as coincidences.

—

“One day you’re going to spill the boiling water all over yourself.” I said as I watched Cedric in a feeble attempt to pour the water from 15 inches above into his teacup.

“I’m not the quidditch captain for nothing-ow!” Cedric yelped at the same time I hissed, and I quickly inspected my wrist.

“Some of it just landed on me!” I glared at him, and he stared blankly back.

“It landed on me, Y/n. You’re across the table it couldn’t have splashed you.” Cedric said slowly, and I realised my wrist was bone-dry.

“I swear to Godric I felt it hit me.” I said earnestly, and Cedric nodded.

“I don’t doubt it. Shall we go back to Pomfrey?” Cedric asked, and I shook my head.

“It’s probably nothing. Lighten up, Ced, we’re fine. We’ve got the lovely class of charms next, followed by Sprout’s endless herbology lectures.” I nudged Cedric with my elbow, but he still seemed upset.

“Hey, what’s up?” I leaned closer and murmured, and he leant his head on mine.

“What if it’s not nothing? What if we’ve been cursed somehow?” I wished I could erase the worry from his face.

“I highly doubt that. Hogwarts is one of the safest places ever, and if someone was going around cursing people we would definitely know about it.” I tried my best to reassure him, and he sighed.

“Okay, dipshit. I guess I trust you.”

—

“Odds on you asking Sprout what the word sex means?” I asked, and Cedric laughed.

“Ten.” I looked at him in surprise.

“You sure? That’s pretty low.” He nodded.

“Why wouldn’t I be sure?” He asked, and I snickered.

“No reason. Three, two, one!”

“Eight!” We both shouted, and I screeched with laughter. Ced was done for.

“No! Rematch!” He said desperately, and I tried to control my laughter.

“Nope! Go ask!” I put my hand over my mouth in an attempt to control my laughter again, and Cedric reluctantly raised his hand.

“Professor? I have a question.” Cedric called out, and Sprout turned around to face us.

“Yes dear?” She smiled at him, and I nudged Cedric’s leg.

“What’s sex?” The entirety of the Hufflepuff-Slytherin class erupted into screams, and Sprout gasped.

“Mr Diggory!” She exclaimed, and I genuinely thought I was going to piss myself.

“Well, as my head of house, I thought you would be the best teacher to ask.” He said, and I noticed his cheeks were bright red. He shot a glare at me before smiling innocently at Sprout.

“If you stay after class I might be able to explain, however, we are currently in a herbology lesson!” She looked like she was about to cry, and I slapped Cedric’s arm as I laughed.

“You’re insane!” I said, and the smile he gave me made my breath get caught in my throat.

The next day I ran into Cedric just before potions. He was about to trip right over his own two feet, when I caught his hand.

"Morning, clumsy!" I smirked slightly as he brushed off the imaginary dust he had acquired during his slip.

"Morning, y/n," he mumbled, lacking his regular enthusiasm. After chatting for a minute or two he started to back away slowly.

"Hey, I just have to run to the bathroom. I'll be back in time for class though!" He yelled over his shoulder now. He started to run down the stony corridor, however I realised after a moment that he was heading the wrong way.

"Wait! Ced, you're heading towards the common rooms!" I tried to yell after him, but figured he'd learn it in a moment anyway. It's not like he hadn't learned this before either. He came to the Slytherin common room almost as much as I went to the Hufflepuff one.

I followed his footsteps, figuring I would be able to talk to him on his way back. What I didn't expect was to see a single slip of parchment fluttering to the floor, and Cedric nowhere in sight.

I bent down quickly to pick it up, crinkling the hard corners with my anxious movements.

I’m like a boat on the water, you’re the raise on the waves that calm my mind.

It was in the same, scrawling writing as the other notes I had received, and the paper was exactly the same to all of the other's I had received.

Was it Cedric? I flipped the paper over and looked at the blank back. He couldn't possibly love me. Could he?

I smiled at the message, remembering when we met up over break once. We had taken his father’s boat sailing, and had somehow managed to capsize on three different occasions. I heard footsteps coming down the corridor, and I shoved the message in my pocket.

"Hey!" Cedric called out as he came near.

“Hi, Ced. Or should I say boat on the water?” I twirled the piece of paper around my fingers as he approached, and I watched as his face fell.

“That’s not mine.” He said quickly, and I raised my eyebrows.

“Hmm. If that’s true, then I better go search for my secret admirer.” I grinned as he took the bait and grabbed my hand, tugging me closer to him.

“How long have you known?” Ced asked, and I shrugged.

“I had my suspicions on Finch-Fletchley, but you proved me wrong with this note,” I laughed at Cedric’s reaction. “I’m joking of course, Ceddie. I had no idea who it was, but I’m glad it’s you.”

“Wait, really?” He seriously was the cutest. The way he was looking at me right now made me feel like the luckiest girl in the world; then again, I just might be.

“Of course I am. In case you hadn’t noticed, I’ve been trying to drop hints for four years.” Cedric laughed at my confession, and I elbowed him.

“Oi! I was only laughing because I’ve been dropping hints for five. I figured in our last year at school I may as well confess that I’m in love with you.” My breath caught in my throat, and he raised his hand to my face only to brush a piece of hair out of my eyes.

“You’re in love with me?” I asked, and he nodded.

“It’s practically impossible not to be. Now that you know it’s me, I was wondering if you wanted to be my valentine?” Cedric asked, and a rustling from above made us look up.

A red rose had just bloomed.

It was valentine's day. Of course, just about everywhere was packed with starry eyed couples. We had opted to stay at Hogwarts, and have a sweet picnic together. Cedric had taken care of the setting, and I had found all of the food.

It wasn't a bad effort. In my opinion he went slightly overboard with the pink, but I did appreciate the various hints of green he had added with the plates and napkins. Plus, I had brought plenty of food from the kitchens (which Cedric had shown me in my fourth year)

We settled down on the edge of the lake, and I took a moment to appreciate the sunny day, and the time I could finally spend with Cedric not just as friends, but as a couple. I laid down, and gently rested my head of Cedric's lap.

"We should have done this a lot sooner," I joked, but I meant it as well. Knowing I could have been dating Cedric for months before now was a little bittersweet. I tried to remember that at least we were here now together.

I wasn't exactly sure if I believed in soulmates, but I knew that if I had a soulmate, it would be Cedric.

"Thank goodness you found the note I was going to hide the other day," Cedric smiled.

"That's true, you're no Gryffindor," I teased. "Thank goodness!" I stuck my tongue out in mock disgust.

And that's when things took a turn. I watched as Cho came up to us, with a nasty frown on her face. Her frown darkened our picnic almost instantly.

“Fuck.” I breathed under my voice. What in Merlin’s name could she possibly want with me and Cedric? Obviously we were about to find out.

“Ceddie, honey!” She sang sweetly as she came closer to us. Cedric shot me a look and quickly set a reassuring, soft kiss on my lips before getting up.

“Cho. What are you doing here?” He asked, sounding incredibly confused. He rubbed his hand through his hair, anxious about her mission

“I came to rescue you!” She grinned innocently. As she reached for her hand I couldn’t help myself.

“Hey! Back off!” She shot me a burning glare, and sent a stinging spell at my wrist.

“Shit,” Cedric and I spoke in unison as we both grabbed our wrists. I muttered a healing spell or two as I glared towards Cho.

“Look, Cho, go away. Okay?” Cedric tried to kindly shoo her away. “I’m perfectly happy with y/n!” I smiled softly, glad to here Cedric say that.

“It’s okay Ceddie! I realised exactly why it was her in that lake and not me!” Cho chirrped. She sounded quite proud of herself, and I was curious what on earth she had come up with.

“Yeah, it’s because I love her!” Cedric explained. Cho let out a shrill laugh, and patted his arm.

“No silly!” She smiled sweetly, as if explaining to a young child. “You THINK you love her!” She shot another laser like look towards me.

“I’m pretty sure I know who I love Cho!” Cedric’s face began to harden as he realised this wasn’t going to be easy to brush off.

“She used a love potion on you!” Cho screeched, grabbing hold of Cedric.

“I said let go of him!” I got up off the blanket and walked over.

“She’s best in our potions class, she’s loved you since we were 13, and she’s a fucking Slytherin!” Cho explained desperately! She had small, glistening tears in her eyes now. I almost felt pity for her, but I couldn’t.

I walked over slowly, deciding exactly what I should say.

“Being a Slytherin doesn’t make me evil Cho, just like you being a Ravenclaw doesn’t make you smart!” I frowned. I hated how much the stereotypes of our houses defined us. “People aren’t able to be perfectly categorised between four groups!” Cho glared and jabbed her wand at me.

Before I realised what was happening, Cedric jumped between me and the flash of white light, but it couldn't stop the spell for some reason. I doubled over in excruciating pain that hit right around my belly button. It was as if my stomach had turned inside out and began to burn the surrounding flesh. I glanced over, and Cedric was in obvious pain as well.

I couldn’t contain the whimper that escaped from my mouth, and Cedric met my eyes.

“How the hell did you hit Y/n with that?” He spat out, while Cho only stared at us in shock and what looked like panic. After Cedric let out what sounded like a painful groan, Cho waved her wand and relief flooded me.

“Tell me! How did you do it?” Now that he was able to stand up without pain, Cedric got incredibly close to her, towering over her.

“I-I don’t know! You jumped in front, she must have been faking it!” I watched as Cedric lowered the manicured finger she had pointed at me, and whispered something in her ear. The effect in had on her was instantaneous; she slowly stepped away before turning tail and bolting away.

“We need to go to Pomfrey.” Cedric spoke without looking at me, though when I clasped his hand he squeezed mine tightly.

“I don’t know what to tell the pair of you. Have you been hit by an unknown spell in the past month or so?” Pomfrey looked tired, I noticed.

I wondered how often she slept.

“Not that I can think of.” Cedric said, and I nodded.

“Unless someone’s hit us without us noticing, then no.” I added, and Pomfrey sighed.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with the two of you. I’ve only heard of cases like these, never seen one myself. I think there’s only been four or five documented.” She explained, causing Ced and I to exchange glances.

“Well, what happened to those people?” I asked the obvious question, since my lovely boyfriend clearly wasn’t going to. Pomfrey shifted slightly.

“One person in each pair died before a full analysis and case study could be completed.” I almost laughed at the look on Cedric’s face until I realised that one of us was totally going to die soon.

“Well, my darling, it was lovely knowing you.” I patted him on the back, and he wrapped his arms around me, encasing me with love.

“What can we do?” Cedric asked, and Pomfrey shook her head.

“Not a whole lot. Try and remember if the pair of you have been struck by a spell in the past though.”

It took fourteen seconds after we left the infirmary to Cedric to slap his forehead.

“I think we’re stupid.” He said, and I raised an eyebrow.

“Speak for yourself. Personally, I’m the smartest person I know.” He snickered, and I frowned. Where was the joke?

“Flitwick hit us with that spell, remember? And the spell was interrupted halfway through, which created a new spell entirely.” Cedric explained, and I sighed.

“I think we’re stupid too.”

We'd spent another lovely 10 years being stupid together. Sure we'd had our ups and downs, but we always knew that we were soulmates.

Since we had found out about the spell, we've helped Flitwick research whatever charm had put us in the situation of feeling each others pain. It was actually quite strange when I was pregnant with our son, Cedric had noticed the contractions first.

After spending a couple of years with Flitwick researching the spell, we'd moved to Scotland and gotten married. Life had been quite pleasant. We owned a small farm where we raised cows and hippogriffs alike. Our son was now 6 years old, and had already decided that he wanted to be in Slytherin 'Just like mummy!'

Currently we were sitting in our favorite wizarding restaurant. I gazed over towards Cedric's kind face as he helped our son go through the maze on the children's menu. I grinned over at my two lovely boys, and nudged Cedric with my foot under the table.

"Hm?" He looked up, and our son copied him. I smiled towards them both, and silently thanked Merlin that I had these two lovely boys in my life.

"What do you want to eat?" I held up the menu, and raised my eyebrows. Cedric and our son looked at each other and then looked back towards be in sync.

"PIZZA!" They said together. I giggled and they quickly joined in.

Just as we share pain, Cedric and I share the multitude of joys that have bloomed in our lives. And that made the joy all the better.

#cedric diggory #cedric diggory x reader

71 notes · View notes

mistymark · 4 years ago

Text

VIGILANTE/S X

part ten // 3.9k words // superpowered!au // series masterlist

summary; in which you consider yourself somewhat of a vigilante.

warnings; violence, mentions of alcohol, swearing, the usual

This is gonna suck. Jaemin’s words echoed in your mind, and you couldn’t help but let out a half-hearted laugh. His hand on yours, you descended the stairs. Only once did you almost trip.

You felt a little comfort when you noticed Johnny and Doyoung at the bar, the former leaning against the bar comfortably, engaged in conversation with a group of socialites that surrounding him. Doyoung, behind him, was talking to the barman, his elbows on the bar, letting Johnny shield him from the high-pitched laughter.

Scanning the crowd, you spotted Jaehyun not too far from them, a tight-lipped smile on his face as he talked to a group of older men. Even from the staircase, you could see how tense he was, and couldn’t help thinking that if he squeezed his champagne glass any harder, it’d break in his hands. His eyes flicked up to meet yours, and you held them for a moment, before his attention was dragged away from you. You forced yourself to look away, and caught sight of Renjun standing by one of the open windows, a slight breeze ruffling his hair. He downed a glass of something and you watched as he vanished from view.

You’d never seen him enter the world of the dead – never watched him leave the land of living. Flicking your eyes over the people who had been standing nearby, you made sure no one had noticed. Luckily, everyone seemed to be so focused on their own conversations that no one had even seen him.

After a beat, you almost looked away – but your attention was caught by his reappearance. Not two steps away, Renjun suddenly appeared, his eyes wide as he clutched his hand to his chest. You watched him walk the few steps to a nearby waiter, grab a full glass of champagne and drink the entire thing in one gulp.

“You okay?” Jaemin’s voice cut through the concern and panic coursing through your veins. Your eyes didn’t leave Renjun on the other end of the room.

“Renjun,” you breathed, nodding your head ever so slightly in his direction. Jaemin followed your gaze, and you didn’t have to look at him to know his eyebrows were furrowed, watching his friend in confusion.

Renjun placed the empty glass on a table, took a deep breath and vanished again. He didn’t reappear.

“It’s hard for him, you know,” Jaemin’s voice was gentle. “Seeing so much death. He hardly leaves the world of the living – only for Donghyuck. But even then, he keeps one foot in our world.”

“I wonder what he saw,” your voice was quiet, your eyes still on the space Renjun had just been occupying. Jaemin cast you a sidelong glance as you stepped onto the ballroom floor.

“Nothing good, knowing this place,” his voice was slightly bitter. “Have you seen the others?”

Perhaps too quickly, you responded, “Doyoung and Johnny at the bar. Jaehyun at 10 o’clock.”

Jaemin stood taller, barely having to lift onto his toes to see over the crowd, and snorted, “Mark’s in line for the bathroom.” Something caught his attention and he frowned at something, but then turned his attention back to you, “Do you want a drink?”

“Please.”

“One minute,” he said, turning to leave. Your hand was still hooked with his, and you grabbed his arm.

“I’ll come with you.” He took one look at your face, his eyes softening, and nodded. You didn’t notice the small smile that tugged at his lips.

“This way,” his spare hand came up to pull your hand from his arm, entwining his fingers with yours.

After standing at the bar for five minutes, watching famous Supers and politicians be served before you, you leant up to say into Jaemin’s ear, “Maybe just champagne will do.”

He smiled at you before grabbing two glasses from a passing waiter. The waiter shot him a dirty look as he kept walking, quickly readjusting his silver tray. You noticed it was the same waiter who Renjun had taken a glass from, as well, but a quick glance around made you doubt it was the same one.

Every waiter looked the same. The exact same. Clones, you thought in awe.

As soon as the thought crossed your mind, you were bombarded with the sheer amount of power in the room. You couldn’t believe it had taken you so long to notice it – the panic from being here blocking out the dull headache you were feeling due to the power.

You could feel Jaemin’s power easily – his body so close it practically radiated from him – but it didn’t phase you anymore. You’d gotten used to how his power – how he – felt that you managed to block it out for the most part.

Now, surrounded by Supers who made their living on using their ability, in a room guarded by Supers, you felt like you were drowning in it.

Jaemin made a snide remark about someone who had just walked by, and you tried to focus on his voice, on his presence as he continued chatting.

You didn’t have to wait around for long – only an hour or so until you could leave the ballroom and head to the garage, fulfill the task you’d actually come here to do.

“Jeno’s here,” Jaemin’s voice was thick, as he stood up to stare at the entrance. When you turned, sure enough, Jeno was standing at the top of the staircase. His blue suit was tailored perfectly to fit his muscular physique, and his hair was even styled nicely. You’d never seen him look so… put together. Back at the warehouse, you’d never seen him wear anything other than sweatpants.

His face was grim, and you watched as he turned to talk to someone beside him – a girl in a beautiful floor-length black dress. She was stunning, with long, perfectly curled hair and a body that made you finger at your own dress, suddenly self-conscious.

Jaemin grabbed your hand, abandoning his drink as he made his way to the bottom of the staircase.

“That’s Jeno’s girlfriend?” You said, surprise filling your voice. You could finally put a face to the – well, he’d never told you her name. A face to the description, you decided.

Jaemin didn’t respond as you stopped in the middle of the crowd at the base of the stairs. His hand gripped yours tightly, and he sighed, “That’s not his girlfriend.”

“What?”

“Look,” Jaemin nodded at where Jeno was now descending the staircase with the girl, his hand holding hers politely. You only now realised how tense he was – how he held her hand away from his body, how his face showed no happiness. You hadn’t really thought about what Jeno would be like in a relationship, but surely it wasn’t this.

Jeno’s eyes caught yours but he showed no emotion, walking his date straight past you and Jaemin. The girl let out a squeal of excitement as she ran to a group of younger socialites surrounding one of the high tables and greeted them, throwing her arms around them happily. Jeno trailed along behind her, his jaw set as he nodded to each person in turn as he was introduced.

“She wouldn’t know anyone here,” Jaemin whispered, his eyes watching the girl. Her hand was now mindlessly wrapping around Jeno’s tie as she talked him up to her friends.

“Super strength,” you heard her say. “I keep telling him that! Don’t I, baby?” Jeno’s eyes were void of any emotion as he let out the fakest laugh you’d ever heard. “One day we’ll get him in the ring, I’m sure.”

Jaemin’s jaw set, and you could tell he wanted to interrupt, but then he was striking up a conversation with a nearby couple, his hand wrapping around your waist as he introduced you as his wife.

“Newlyweds!” You guessed the couple were in their late fourties, and they looked at each other like you and Jaemin were the cutest thing they’d ever seen. “Cherish the honeymoon phase,” one of them said to you earnestly.

“It never comes back!” The other laughed. You let Jaemin carry most of the conversation – your mind drifting to Jeno and his mystery date, Renjun’s reappearance, the power in this room alone…

“Yeah, there’s no love left in that relationship,” Jaemin mumbled to you as the other couple departed. You watched as they walked away together, before turning in opposite directions without so much as a word.

You snorted, “They seemed to believe there was in ours, though.”

Jaemin glanced at you, and you felt his eyes watching you before looking back down at his glass, “How ironic.”

Time passed slower than it did during your training sessions with Johnny, and by the time someone stepped into the middle of the dance floor, illuminated by a spotlight, you were ready to rip the eyes out of every person you’d talked to.

“And now, a word from our gracious host,” the butter-smooth voice of the announcer said. There was no way the Red Prince would be here. No way he’d expose himself.

Looking up at the upper level, the overlooking balconies that encircled the entire room, you noticed more Shields had been stationed there – observers. He’s probably here somewhere.

The sudden dread that overcame you was enough to make you want to vomit – the last thing you wanted was to see him. For him to see you. Traitor. Liar. Weakling.

He’d kill you on the spot.

Or maybe he’d get someone else to do it for him.

You peeked around the person standing in front of you and were surprised to see the scarred face of Reflux – perhaps one of the most notorious Super fighters attending. It wasn’t surprising that he worked under the Red Crown.

You knew that if Renjun were here – in the world of the living – he’d be whispering his entire backstory to you. How he had the ability to cause burns and boils to erupt on someone’s skin. How he’d been an underground fighter for years before being sponsored by the Crown. How he’d never lost a fight.

Jaemin’s hand squeezed yours, a silent question, Are you ready?

No. You squeezed it back, letting out a long breath. Yes.

Most of the guards had stationed themselves in the ballroom, meaning there’d be less throughout the rest of the manor. Perfect time to leave. You just had to make sure they didn’t see you.

You walked over to a table by the wall, the doorway to the corridor in view. Jaemin grabbed more champagne and handed you a glass, but this time you didn’t take a sip. Your eyes watched the door – waiting for the perfect moment.

A few moments later, you had your opening, another cloned waiter walked out, a tray of sparkly pink drinks in hand. The door began to slide closed again, that glowing green light on the lock slowly fading to orange, then red.

“Now,” you murmured to Jaemin.

You hadn’t used Jaemin’s ability much – but he’d trained you for this task. Super speed quickly drained you – your body not used to how fast it needed to operate to fulfill basic tasks at such speed. You’d trained enough that you could run at Jaemin’s speed for maybe thirty seconds. That was still enough time.

Jaemin vanished before you could even blink, and then you were right behind him. The entire world seemed to tip on its axis, blurring as you ran. The waiter who had just stepped out of the doorway was only a few steps from the closing door by the time you’d arrived.

Jaemin slipped through the door, holding it open slightly for you to squeeze through just before it was subject to close.

You were already starting to feel the effects of his ability, but he grabbed your hand and led you to the right, away from the kitchens and the waiters.

When you rounded another corner, you found yourself in a hallway that led back towards the building’s entrance.

“Slow down,” Jaemin reminded you, “or you’ll crash when you stop.”

You nodded and slowly waned your powers until you were merely walking briskly. Then you stopped, crouching down in the middle of the hallway.

“Okay?”

You nodded. “Okay.” You just needed a second to readjust. You felt around for the power you often clung to, but came up virtually empty. “It drained me a little more than I expected.”

“Yeah, I had to adjust our course. Saw a few people heading our way.”

You nodded in understanding, standing up. You swayed a little bit, and Jaemin almost reached for you, but thought twice and pulled back. Instead, he offered you a snack.

“You carry these around with you?”

Jaemin noticed the smile on your face, offering one of his own, and shrugged, “I get drained, too.”

You tugged at the bout of power you always felt radiating from him, and rolled your eyes, “I can feel your power. How very-not-drained you are.”

Footsteps in the distance alerted you of someone walking down the corridor perpendicular to this one, and you both silently agreed to depart.

As you got to the main entryway, you looked around the doorframe carefully. A few people milling about – mostly guards, though a few guests were walking back and forth, either just arriving or leaving early.

The footsteps were getting louder, and Jaemin looked at you, your shoes, and then whispered, “Don’t hate me for this.”

Before you had a chance to respond, he picked you up in one sweep and sped across the entryway, ducking behind the stairs before crossing into the western wing of the house. It was a few moments before he let you down, but when he did, you staggered out of his arms, heading for a potted plant and emptied your stomach into the soil.

Jaemin winced, “Sorry.”

You motioned for him to wait a second, and he leant against a wall, rubbing his hand down his face. When you turned around, you nodded, “It’s okay. Let’s just get this over with.”

Walking with as much grace as you could manage after vomiting into a no doubt expensive houseplant, you turned another corner and finally found the door you were looking for.

“Come on, Renjun,” Jaemin murmured.

You stood outside the garage door together, waiting. Then, there was a quiet click, and the sound of a deadbolt sliding open. The little touchpad on the side of the door beeped, and you noticed the words ‘Hello SU1248 Shotaro. Access Granted.’ moving across the screen.

Jaemin didn’t pay any attention to the message. Shotaro, whoever that was, was a Crown – the 1248th Crown, to be exact. SU? You didn’t think the Crown had many Unexplainables, if any at all.

You followed Jaemin inside and down the stairs to the lower level. Why are there so many goddamn stairs? The steps led down to another door, with another panel by its side that beeped and opened as you approached, and then you were in the garage. It was a large hangar-like space, filled with cars, motorbikes, scooters, vans, everything.

“Bet they have a boat somewhere.”

“How much?”

Jaemin just winked and started off down the rows and rows of cars. You didn’t know too much about cars – not exactly have the money or resources to learn – but you knew you weren’t going to be searching for a bright red convertible like the one Jaemin was looking at.

“What are you doing?”

“This is a new model,” he said, his voice laced with awe. You watched him squat at the back of the car to get a closer look. “Not even a fake.”

“Okay, and-“

“I don’t mean new like it came out this year,” he finally looked at you, a big dumb grin on his face. “I mean new like this is the first one they ever made. It even has the manufacturer’s – and this one.”

He’d spotted another car – this one a matte black – and was walking over to admire it.

“Since when do you know so much about cars?” You raised an eyebrow, but didn’t stop to listen for an answer. There was a row of shiny black cars ahead – one of them was surely the Prince’s.

Jaemin fell into step beside you, “Did Johnny tell you how he found me? Recruited me?”

“No one tells me anything.”

“Street racing.”

You couldn’t hide the surprise on your face as you looked at him. He stared back. “You were a street racer?”

He nodded, “Yeah.” He slid his hands into his pockets, his attention moving to look at the cars surrounding you. “I was originally recruited as a getaway driver.” Then that familiar cocky smile made its way onto his face, “Clearly I have other skills, and I was used more often, for other missions.”

“Why?”

He knew what you meant. He shrugged, “Felt nice knowing the world was operating at my speed. And I needed the money.” Jaemin looked at you for a moment. “My family… my dad left my mum when I was eleven, and she lost her job just after that. We didn’t have a lot of money to start with, but-”

“You started racing when you were eleven?”

“Twelve,” he corrected. “Back then it was just the car dad left us – a piece of scrap metal. But it ran fine.” Then his eyes fell to the tattoo on your wrist, and his eyes met yours, “How old were you when you joined the Crown?”

“Older than twelve.”

He laughs, “That’s it? That’s all I get?”

“You might have been ready to tell me about your childhood, but I’m not ready to tell you about mine.” You voice was firm, and Jaemin, rightly, did not argue. “You take the right, I’ll take the left.”

He nodded, then stepped away from you, walking along the other side of the mini road. You knew he was a few cars behind you, but you didn’t say anything as you scanned the cars silently.

It took a few minutes, but you found the right car, the recognisable detailing. The windows were tinted so strongly, you couldn’t even see inside through the windshield, even in the cool bright lighting of the large garage. “Hey, over here,” you gestured for Jaemin to come over.

He pulled out the device Renjun had handed you before you left the warehouse – under strict instructions not to give it to Jaemin until he’d sobered up – and bent down to scan the entire car.

At the other end of the garage, you heard the door open. You were too far away to be seen, but you looked to Jaemin in a panic. Wide eyes met yours and you ducked behind the car to where he was.

“Almost done,” he whispered, looking back down at the device. Scan 95% complete.

“Someone left the lights on,” a gravelly voice said from the entrance. And the exit. You wouldn’t be able to leave without them moving.

“Who was in here last?” A different voice responded.

“What, you gonna report them?” Gravel responded.

There was a pause. “Was it you?”

“No, you idiot. I’ve been with you the whole time.”

“SU1248,” the other said. “Came in five minutes ago.”

“Probably had an errand to run-“

“Door hasn’t been opened.”

You tensed. A hand on your leg made you look at Jaemin, and he held up the scanning device, Scan 100% complete. He slid it back into his suit jacket pocket then held a finger to his lips, Keep quiet.

You rolled your eyes and gave him a look that you hoped said, Wow. Thank you. I was just about to start screaming.

He raised an eyebrow at you, but the voices caught your attention again.

“What?”

“Garage door hasn’t been opened. He’s still in here.”

“That explains the lights,” Gravel deadpanned.

“No.”

“What now?”

The other one was getting annoyed with his partner now. Probably the stick up his ass, you thought. “If he’s in here,” the second said through gritted teeth, “where is he?”

You looked at Jaemin – but this time, you weren’t panicked. It was almost like he’d read your mind, because you both started moving at the same time.

Still remaining between the cars, you stayed low and moved towards the exit, towards the two Crowns you could still hear bickering.

When you reached the end of the row, you managed to get a good look at the two. Gravel was short but muscular – a Shield, probably – and was leaning against the stair railing, waiting for his partner to finish going through the garage door’s activity log.

His partner – Stickbutt, you’d decided – was tall and thin, with a hollow face. He looked like an evil librarian, with thick dark eyebrows and a perpetual hunch – a Mentalist, most likely. He didn’t look like he’d be too fond of continuous movement.

You reached for their power, attempting to clasp onto anything that came from them. It was easier down here with less people, and you easily managed to detect one – “Electricity,” you whispered, nodding at the shorter one of the two.

“And?” “And…” you frowned. Nothing? You reached further, harder, for a slip of power. If searching for the other’s ability was like grabbing at silken strings, searching for Stickbutt’s was like trying to grab at dust in the air.

“Y/n,” Jaemin drew out your name, bouncing on his toes, growing impatient.

But you made contact. It was like he’d purposely tried to hide his ability, kept it away from prying eyes like your own. Blinding.

“The tall one can make you blind.” Jaemin looked alarmed. “Temporarily, I think.”

“That’s comforting.”

But then you were both leaping out from your hiding places, Jaemin quickly making his way to the short one, delivering a swift punch to the gut, as you went for the other, drawing on Jaemin’s power to get you right in front of him then Stickbutt’s – effectively blinding your opponent.

He shrieked, “You idiot! You got me!” He stumbled away from you, but you grabbed hold of a metal bat that’d been leaning against the wall and swiftly hit him over the head with it. He crumpled to the floor.

“Y/n!” You turned to Jaemin, and found him leaning on the railing, staring at you confusedly. “Wrong one.” You frowned, then realised what had happened. Stickbutt wasn’t the Mentalist – Gravel was the Mentalist. You’d just knocked out some dumb Shield.

And Gravel was turning on you. You wouldn’t be able to fight him blind – but you’d probably be able to die blind. You probably will die blind if you don’t think of something. Gravel stared at you, a wicked smile on his face as he stepped forward. Out of the corner of your eye, you could see Jaemin crawling away from the stairs, blinking rapidly as if it would clear his vision. The door’s lock sparked.

“Now, which one of you is Shotaro?” You narrowed your eyes at him. You felt a familiar tug in your chest as Stickbutt twitched. Then, you smiled back at him. “You left the lights on.”

“Do you want me to turn them off?” you gave him an innocent smile, drawing on all the power from his partner, gathering as much electricity as you could manage. You could feel the energy being seeped from the technology in the room, the lights flickering as you summoned it.

And then you let it rain like hellfire, directly onto the Crown in front of you.

#nct #nct dream #nct au #nct dream au #nct gang au #nct superpower au #antihero au #superpowers au #superhero au #nct dream gang au #nct dream fluff #nct dream angst #nct fluff #nct angst #nct 127 gang au #nct 127 #nct 127 angst #nct 127 fluff

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middleearthpixie · 3 years ago

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In Time ~ Chapter Twenty-Five

Author's Note: I'm posting this far later than usual because today simply got away from me. Doncha hate that???

Summary: The Company of Thorin Oakenshield reaches Mirkwood, where Thorin will offer a deal to Thranduíl on Kili’s behalf, and later on, Amara runs into an old friend who fires up Thorin’s jealous streak

Pairing: Thorin Oakenshield/Amara (female OC)

Characters: Thorin, Amara, the Company, Thranduíl, Aiduin of Mirkwood

Rating: T

Warnings: None

Word Count: 4,205

Taggin: @i-did-not-mean-to @lathalea @tschrist1

As it happened, their luck, did in fact hold out over the fortnight it took for them to reach Mirkwood’s border. Thorin scowled as they stood at the Mirkwood border, where two of Thranduíl’s men stood silent sentry. He didn’t want to be there. After all, the last time he and the others found themselves in Mirkwood, spiders had tried to eat them, elves tried to kill them, and Thranduíl himself had them tossed into then dungeons. If it hadn’t been for Master Baggins, who never did explain exactly how he managed it, snagging the dungeon keys, they might still be in those tiny, damp, woodland cells.

But, the hobbit had freed them, smuggled them out in barrels, in which they bounced about like corks tossed on the river’s swift current, battling not only the elves trying to stop them, but the orcs sent to hunt Thorin himself.

He looked over at Kili, whose eyes practically gleamed at the sight of the wood. It was because of this place he’d met Tauriel, the she-elf who’d saved his skin the first time. Saved his skin and apparently won his heart. Although Kili rarely spoke of her, Thorin had the feeling he knew exactly what went through his nephew’s mind. Most likely the same thing that went through his own mind whenever he looked at Amara.

Which was why they were at Thranduíl’s front door. As much as it would pain him—and it would definitely pain him—Thorin would willingly gift the Seven Stars of Middle Earth necklace to Thranduíl if it meant Thranduíl would give his blessing for Kili to court Tauriel. The same blasted necklace that kept the woodland elves from aiding Erebor in its time of need, that caused Thranduíl to threaten Erebor with what became the Battle of the Five Armies, would find its way to Mirkwood, no matter how much Thorin hated to do it. He had no love lost for Thranduíl and knew the feeling was mutual, but he’d put aside his own dislike and distrust of the Elf King if it mean Kili would find the same happiness with Tauriel that he’d found with Amara.

With that, he climbed down from his saddle and stepped up to the sentries. “Thorin Oakenshield to see Thranduíl.”

“Does His Highness expect you?”

He shook his head. “He does not, no. But tell him I have something he wants and I am willing to discuss parting with it.”

The two sentries looked at one another, then the shorter of the two turned as the doors opened noiseless, and disappeared inside.

Thorin stared down the second sentry. He didn’t like being in Mirkwood. The air was heavy with apprehension and dread, its waters were enchanted with what some considered black magic, and the spiders alone were enough to make him want to avoid the woods with ever fiber of his being, for they were no ordinary spiders. They were big enough to hunt man, dwarf, and elf, and did so without impunity. Even from where he stood, at the edge the wood and vine bridge that would lead them into the Kingdom of Mirkwood, he could see the wispy white spiderwebs in the distance. Just the sight of them was enough to bring back the claustrophobic feeling of being wrapped in one of their cocoons.

He fought off a shiver as the memory of being wrapped so suffocatingly tight, of being unable to move much more than a finger or a toe, rushing to the forefront of his mind. Again, if it hadn’t been for Master Baggins and his sword—which he’d dubbed Sting—they might not have survived long enough to find their way into those dungeons.

“What is taking so long?” Dwalin grumbled from his saddle.

“I am certain Thranduíl is trying to come up with some reason to deny us entry,” Thorin told him over one shoulder, “all the while his curiosity kills him because he knows he’ll not be able to.”

“I say we keep moving,” Dwalin countered. “Why are we even here?”

Thorin grinned at Kili. “Do you wish to explain or should I?”

Kili held his stare easily. “I am not the one who always railed about how untrustworthy elves were. I do believe that was you, Uncle.” He winked. “Tell me, do you still feel that way?”

He asked it with all the innocence one could put into a sentence and Thorin’s grin faded as the others all snickered. “Enjoy your laugh at my expense,” he growled, looking from one dwarf to the next, finally letting his gaze land on Kili once more. “But, remember, I have something he wants. So, I’d think twice about baiting me, Kili, since I’ve yet to actually give him what it is he covets. And if I decide to keep it for myself, you will most likely not be welcome here again.”

Kili’s face went red as the others now turned their snickers in his direction. Dwalin laughed the loudest. “Last time ye blushed tha’ bad, laddie, was when ye mistook an elf-lad for an elf-maiden.”

Now even the sentry grinned as Kili’s face went redder still. From the corner of his eye, Thorin saw Amara shake her head and he almost smiled when she said, “To be fair, it is sometimes difficult to tell them apart.”

Kili smiled at her. “Let them have their fun.” He looked back at Thorin. “I won’t have to eat any words.”

Now, Thorin smiled over his shoulder at her. “I don’t mind eating these words.”

“Mr. Oakenshield,” the first sentry returned, his expression neutral, “My Lord Thranduíl will see you. Follow me. Edyrm will see your ponies to the stables.”

The others dismounted and Thorin didn’t miss how Edrym’s gaze lingered on Amara. Thorin said nothing, but reached out to link his fingers with hers. “She’s with me.”

“Thorin!” Amara whispered.

“What? I’m merely stating a fact. You are with me.”

“I know that, but he does not care one way or the other.”

He shrugged. “I take no chances.”

She said nothing, but he didn’t miss how she rolled her eyes. Well, let her. He cared not. He had no problem making it perfectly clear to any curious elf that Amara was with him. Childish, perhaps, but he rather enjoyed knowing that they would at that moment be wishing they were him. And sane man—be they Man, elf, or dwarf—would want to be in his boots.

They followed their guide into Thranduíl’s palace. Unlike Rivendell, Thorin found no peace or tranquility in Mirkwood. Everything was dark, earthy tones of brown, beiges, red and gold, with hints of green here and there. The air felt heavy and thick, damp from all of the roots and vines that made up the palace walls. The walkways were wide, open of both sides, with what looked like endless drops on either side. Nothing had changed since the last time he stood in the throne room, where the Woodland Realm’s king sat perched high atop his throne.

Unlike the Rivendell king, Thranduíl was tall and lanky, with sleek almost-white blonde hair and wide, almost clear blue eyes. He wore a crown woven of golden twigs and leaves encrusted with gold and brown polished stones that changed color depending on how the light—what light there was—bounced off them. He wore long, flowing robes of gold over green, and two slender fingers on each hand bore rings of the same gold and brown stones in his crown.

Those blue eyes were not the least bit friendly as he peered down at them now. “Thorin Oakenshield. It has been some time since we last spoke. I believe I’d had you dragged off to rot in my dungeon, hadn’t I?”

“The dungeons from which I promptly escaped,” he retorted, unable to hold back his smirk.

Thranduíl offered up a bland smile. “Your hobbit friend had more to do with that than you did, did he not?”

“Be that as it may, I still escaped.”

“And then, of course, there was my visit to your doorstep.” Thranduíl’s voice grew colder, if that was even possible. “When you opted for war over negotiation.”

“I was not myself then.” Thorin cast a quick, sideline glance at Amara, whose hand tightened about his ever so slightly.

The Elvenking’s expression turned sympathetic, but only for a moment or two, then his face slid back into its impassive mask.

“So, what brings you and your—” Thranduíl’s piercing gaze slid about the others gathered around him, lingering on Amara just as Edrym’s did—“company, to my realm?”

Thorin glanced over at Kili, whose color had returned to normal, and said, “I come to you with a business proposition. One I’d rather discuss one on one with you.”

Thranduíl’s eyes narrowed. “Is that so? The last time you were in my chambers, you thought to insult me. Then, you challenged me to war.”

A bit of heat came to Thorin’s face and he fought the urge to look over at his company. He’d said the same thing to Thranduíl that he’d insulted Amara with when they’d first met. “Our meeting last time was a bit—ah—tense, on account of not only had we had the pleasure of dealing with your spiders, but then we were, for all intents and purposes, treated as prisoners.”

“You were, if I recall,” Thranduíl reminded him, his voice void of any emotion whatsoever, “trespassing in my woods. Of course you were treated as prisoners. As for the spiders, they are not mine.”

“Oh, for the love of—“ Dwalin growled, but Thorin cut him off.

“Hush,” he snapped, without looking at Dwalin. To Thranduíl, he said, “Even so, I do have something I think you would be interested in and I am willing to bargain for something in return. But, I’d rather do so privately.”

Thranduíl’s lips disappeared into a thin white line and the slender fingers slowly fanned across the arm of his wooded throne. Then, he nodded. “Very well. Lorsan, show our guests to the dining hall and make certain they have something to eat and drink. Then, you may show them to the guest chambers,” those eyes flicked back to Thorin, “as I assume you will wish to pass the night.”

The last thing he wanted was to try to sleep in this tangle of vines and roots, but since he very well couldn’t say that, he nodded. “Your hospitality is greatly appreciated.”

He turned to Amara. “I will join you all when I’ve finished here.”

She looked up at Thranduíl, then back at him. “Why do you look so serious? Is something the matter?”

“Not at all,” he assured her, catching her hand to give it a gentle squeeze. “I’m about to throw myself on my proverbial sword for Kili and I think I’ll have but one chance to get it right.”

She leaned in and whispered, “Tauriel?”

He nodded. “Exactly.”

“Well, good luck.” She bent to brush his cheek with her lips, a hint of laughter in her voice as she murmured, “Remember, be nice.”

“Am I ever not nice?”

She pulled away, one brow arched, “Ish kakfe—”

“Unfair. You said yourself I was in unimaginable pain and so could not be held—”

“I did and you were. Just tread carefully. Elves are vain and Thranduíl more so than most.” She patted his shoulder and followed after Balin, who waited as the rest of the dwarves filed out of the throne room.

Thorin turned back to the Elven King, who now stood atop his high dais. With extreme care, so as not to trip over his robes, he slowly descended and swept toward him. “What is this about? You seemed quite adamant that you were interested only in war the last time we met.”

“Nearly dying has a way of changing the way one looks at things,” Thorin replied evenly. “I have had time enough to reflect on my actions and the mistakes I made leading up to the battle. And now, I’ve come to rectify those mistakes.”

“Have you?” A hint of amusement wove into Thranduíl’s voice, his gaze direct and unwavering. “And if your terms do not interest me?”

“They will.”

Lorsan led the group down deeper into the palace, where the air felt even colder and damper, and smelled of moss and rainwater. Amara shivered from the dampness, wrapping her arms about herself and rubbing her upper arms to try to warm herself, for all the good it did.

The others didn’t seem to notice the dank chill. Either that, or they didn’t care, for they chatted amongst themselves. She lingered behind them, looking about at how the roots from the trees of Mirkwood wove through one another to make the walls of the palace below.

“Amara?”

She froze at the soft, smooth voice that skimmed over her ears like satin. She knew that voice—or had known it, was more accurate—and when she turned and spotted the tall, slender he-elf, with the shimmering blond hair and eyes that were almost as dark as freshly watered soil, her smile rose of its own. “Aiduin?”

“You do remember me.”

“As if I could forget,” she said with a laugh as he caught up to her and threw his arms about her. “How are you?”

“I was fine but now, I think it safe to say I am even better! What brings you to Mirkwood?”

“She’s with us,” Dwalin growled, coming up behind her. “And it would be in yer best interest, laddie, to take yer hands from her.”

Aiduin’s eyes went wide. “I beg your pardon?”

Dwalin none-too-gently knocked Aiduin’s arms from either side of her. “There. Was tha’ simple enough for ye?”

“Dwalin!” She glared at him over her shoulder. “What are you doing?”

“Thorin won’t like another man putting his hands on ye.” Dwalin glared at Aiduin. “He won’t like it a’tall.”

“Thorin?” Aiduin turned his puzzled look to her. “Oakenshield? You’re with him?”

She nodded, but before she could say anything, Dwalin cut in with, “She’s his intended. So, if I were ye, I’d make myself scarce before he sees you.”

“Dwalin!” Amara gritted through clenched teeth. “That’s enough.”

She turned back to Aiduin. “What are you doing here? I thought you’d decided you were going to strike out for parts unknown?”

“Miss Amara,” Balin stepped up alongside his brother, “you should come along.”

“You all go on ahead and I will catch up in a few minutes.” She gestured to Aiduin. “He is but an old friend and I’d like to catch up with him.”

Balin and Dwalin both frowned, which made her frown right back at them. “Do not look at me that way. Go.”

“Thorin won’t like this.”

“Why? There is nothing to like or dislike. Aiduin is, as I said, an old friend.”

Balin shook his head. “Very well. But—”

“If you say Thorin will not like it again, I’m going to scream,” she replied politely, but firmly. “Thorin will not care. Why should he?”

The brothers exchanged looks and she rolled her eyes. Then, she tucked her arm through Aiduin’s and said, “We have some catching up to do, don’t we?”

Aidiun didn’t look so certain. “Your friends don’t seem to think it wise.”

“It is fine. Besides, I’ve had only them for company for a fortnight. Now it is time for me to spend time with someone else for a change.” She smiled up at him. “So, shall we?”

Aiduin led her away from the grumbling dwarves, and she tried to ignore the nagging feeling that Thorin would indeed disapprove of her going off with another elf. But Aiduin wasn’t simply any other elf. He’d trained in Rivendell with her, before striking out for those parts unknown. How he came to be in Mirkwood was something she wished to know.

“Your friends seem to think you are going to get in trouble.”

She sighed softly. “They worry. They mean well, but at times, they can be overbearing. So,” she looked up at him, “do tell how you came to be here?”

“It’s quite simple. Mirkwood needed a healer. I needed work. Thranduíl took a liking to me and here I am. How about you? Are you still in residence in Rivendell? Or do you now wander like the dwarves?”

She smiled as they strolled along an open walkway, away from the palace and into the woods. It didn’t feel quite so suffocating out in the forest itself. “I wander with the dwarves now,” she told him as they stopped near a small pool. Trees alive and dead were all around, fallen over the pathway, vines doing their best to reclaim them. “Although, wander is not the correct term, I suppose. I’m journeying to Erebor.”

“As their healer?”

She shook her head. “No. Thorin and I… We are to be married.”

Aiduin’s smile faded, but only just. Then, he caught it and it returned in full force. “You are betrothed to a dwarf? I am not so certain I believe that.”

“Why? Why could I not be betrothed to one?”

“Well, because… he’s a dwarf. And you, Amara… you could have any elf you wished. If you set your sights on him, even Thranduíl would be unable to resist you.”

“I am hardly interested in Thranduíl.” She let out a laugh then, lightly punched him in the arm. “But I am interested int what you’ve been doing. So, do tell.”

“Me? Not much, I’m afraid. I told you, I wandered about here and there, and needed work, so here I am.” Aiduin shook his head. “Hardly a fascinating tale.”

“Oh, but to one who’s never been beyond Rivendell’s borders, your vagabond life is utterly fascinating to me.”

“Really? It’s a lot of traveling, sleeping in strange places, and never knowing where your next meal is coming from.”

“Ah,” she laughed, “a true vagabond.”

“More or less.” He leaned against the low wall of woven branches. “Do tell me, how is Rivendell?”

She hesitated, a feeling of homesickness rising to squeeze her heart. “It was fine when I left. I was fortunate in that my replacement was right under my nose, and a pleasant surprise as well. Lord Elrond is the same as always, although he was a bit weary from having so many dwarves in residence.” She looked off in the direction the dining hall, where muffled shouts and laughter floated from. “They are a lively group, you know. Very high-spirited.”

“And how did a dwarf win your hand? This I must know.”

“He and his nephews came to us gravely wounded.” She turned back to meet his gaze. “The Battle of the Five Armies, you know.”

“I heard about it, yes. These are Erebor dwarves or Iron Hill dwarves?”

“Erebor.” She reached up to touch the braid Thorin had woven in her hair, her fingertip tracing along the ornament. “Thorin is their king.”

“A king?” Aiduin’s eyes widened. “Is that so?”

“It is. But he nearly lost his life at Ravenhill. Azog the Defiler ran him through.”

“He is fortunate he found his way into your Healing Room.”

She sighed softly, still tracing the ornament as she remembered that very first day, when the attendants brought Thorin into her Healing Room. “I didn’t think he would survive that night, to be honest. The sheets over and beneath him were absolutely soaked in his blood, it had soaked through his clothes, the mail he wore, and he was so deathly pale.

“But,” she lowered her hand, clasping it with her other one, “dwarves are strong and they are fighters and he held on. No matter what setback he faced, what challenges he had—and there were quite a few—he met them head on and beat them.”

“He sounds very lucky.”

She nodded. “He was. Mahal was on his side.”

“I think it’s more he was in the best of hands.”

A pleased heat stung her cheeks. “Oh, I don’t know about that, though I thank you just the same. But he’s of the line of Durin and Durin’s Folk are strong. I think he would have lived regardless.”

“So,” Aiduin looked over at her, “what brings you all here? I should think you would be making for Erebor.”

“We are, but Thorin’s nephew, Kili, is sweet on an elf named Tauriel. Because of her—“

“Tauriel? The captain of the guard?”

Amara shrugged. “I don’t know. Is there more than one Tauriel here?”

“Well, no, but I thought she was sweet on Legolas.”

“Legolas?”

“King Thranduíl’s son.”

“Oh.” She didn’t quite know how to respond to that, for she didn’t know if Kili knew about Legolas.

“Amara?”

She looked over and smiled as Thorin strode toward them. “How did your meet with Thranduíl go?”

“Fine, thank you.” Thorin didn’t return her smile and in fact, glared at Aiduin as he said, “I thought you’d be with the others.”

“Well, I would have, but then I bumped into Aiduin.” She slid her arm through Thorin’s and said, “Thorin Oakenshield, this is Aiduin Drannor. Aiduin, this is Thorin Oakenshield.”

Aiduin smiled and held out a hand. “A pleasure to meet you.”

“Indeed.” Thorin didn’t take his hand. He didn’t smile. In fact, she could almost feel the hostility radiating from him. “How do you and Amara know one another?”

“We trained together in Rivendell,” Aiduin replied, lowering his hand. “She was Ilyana’s star pupil.”

“Oh, hardly. You were far more skilled than I.”

Thorin’s arm stiffened against her. “We should join the others.”

With that, he turned and gave a sharp tug on her arm to pull her back toward the dining hall. She peered back over her shoulder at Aiduin, who stood there almost dumbfounded. “Thorin, that was rude.”

“Ask me if I care,” he growled, guiding her back along the walkway.

“What is the matter? I was only talking to him.”

“I didn’t like the way he looked at you.”

“Didn’t like the way he—“ she rolled her eyes—“and how was he looking at me?”

“As if he was trying to picture you naked.”

“Thorin!”

“What?” He glanced at her. “He was.”

“That is ridiculous. He is a friend and that’s it.”

“I’ve never heard you mention him.”

“Well, I haven’t seen him in years, so…”

“Trust me, I know what I saw.”

By then, they’d reached the dining hall and she yanked her arm from his grasp. “You are being ridiculous, do you know that?”

“Am I? I should think I know a look like that when I see it.”

“You are and I am done discussing it. He's a friend. No more and no less.” She moved down and sank onto the bench beside Dwalin.

Thorin followed her, sitting across from her. “Do you want to know how I know how he was looking at you?”

“No.” She glared at him. “I don’t, really. Because this entire conversation is silly.”

“Too bad, because I’m going to tell you.” He cast a sidelong glance at Dwalin, who shrugged and did not look away.

“I am not having this discussion here.”

“Fine.” He rose and came around to her side. “Walk with me, then.”

Mindful of the eyes on them, she sighed and stood. “Very well. But I think you are being ridiculous.”

“So you’ve said. Excuse us,” he said to the others, his hand coming to rest at the small of her back as he guided her toward the far end of the dining hall, where the room opened to another walkway.

Once they were out of earshot of everyone, he turned to her. “Do you know how I know?”

“How?”

“Because I am fairly certain it’s the same way I look at you.”

She just stared at him, her irritation draining away as she moved to slip her arms about his neck. “Thorin, he is but a friend. And even if he is looking at me that way, you can be certain I am not looking at him that way.”

“I still don’t like it.”

“Thorin.”

“I don’t. And if it weren’t for the fact that we are all worn out from traveling here, I would say we were leaving this evening. But I have to admit, I’m looking forward to sleeping in a comfortable bed this night and one that has no questionable smells or stains or extra dwarves. We can leave at first light come the morning.”

She smiled. The last inn before Mirkwood had been nothing short of a horror, as the innkeeper had only three rooms for the fourteen of them and she and Thorin shared theirs with Fili, Kili, and Bofur. “No. This evening, we should have some peace. Did you know Bofur sings in his sleep?”

“I did, actually.” He sighed softly, leaning in to press his forehead to hers. “I’ve no wish to fight with you, amrâlimê.”

“Nor I with you.” She threaded her fingers through his hair. “And you’ve nothing to worry about, you know. Maralmizu, Mr. Oakenshield. Nalish.”

She breathed a sigh of relief as his eyes softened and he murmured, “Maralmizi, kurdelê.”

Disaster averted.

#The Hobbit #Thorin Oakenshield #Hobbit Fic #Hobbit Fanfic #Fan fiction #The Hobbit fan fiction #Thorin x OC #AU #AUJ #Thorin Fic #Everybody Lives AU #Hobbit Medical Drama #Hobbit ER

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thefanficmonster · 4 years ago

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Death’s Tales

The Curator (The Dark Pictures Anthology) x Reader (Female)

Warnings: None (Maybe slight spoilers and slight mentions of death)

Genre: Dark Theme, slight Angst

Summary: This isn’t Y/N’s first visit to the Curator’s repository. She’s visited two times so far and deep down she knows she’ll keep coming back. Stories have a way of trapping you in the place where they live. But then again, it’s nice to have some good company for when you are introduced to those stories. Someone to laugh with during all the humorous parts. And also someone to offer you tissues when you are going through the thick of the lives written on the pages of the many books.

Requested by Anon! Hi there! Thank you so much for your request! Sorry it took so long to write, though I hope the fic makes up for the wait. I hope I captured what you had in mind. Please, enjoy. Love, Vy ❤❤❤

“Hello? You here?!“ Y/N calls out as she walks into familiar room. She immediately gets the feeling that she’s in the presence of a more intense power than she could explain - the power of all the timeless stories currently surrounding her. This is by no means her first tango with the deathless death turned into words written on thin, delicate pages for people to enjoy. She has always had an odd connection to each and every story she reads, so this place was the ultimate trap when she first wandered in, expectations low and head held high. She underestimated the repository, however, it didn’t take long for it to turn the tables on her with all it has to offer. In less than an hour, she had her nose buried in a book, her expectations exceeded by miles and her mind transported to a different place and time.

“Where else would I be?” The distinct voice she’s gotten so used to hearing replies from somewhere near by, “You know I rarely leave this place.”

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that’s a sad way to be spending your time. But man, if I could stay here all my life I would.“ She struts into the room where the reply came from.

He is indeed there, standing by one of the many shelves, a candleholder with lit handles in one hand, browsing the shelf’s contents with the other. He chuckles at her statement, brushing it off completely, “I was waiting for you. Have a seat, I’ll pick a story for you.”

She gets comfortable, unwrapping her scarf and shrugging off her jacket. Sitting down in one of the leather chairs opposite his desk, she crosses her legs and waits expectantly.

“Ah, there we go. ‘House Of Ashes’, how does that sound to you?” He pulls out a book, holding it under the candlelight for Y/N to see the cover with the title engraved in the, what seems to be, leather surface.

She frowns, scrunching her nose, “You know what, no. I’m tired of these sad and scary stories laced with death. I can’t live knowing I gave those characters a bad fate. I know it’s redo-able, but I can’t help but feel shitty afterwards.” She shifts in her seat, “First all those people left stranded on that boat! Then I was tricked into sympathizing and emotionally investing into characters that were nothing more than the product of a broken mind!” She gives him a glare that’s looking through him more than at him, “I think I deserve a different story this time. Something lighter.”

The older man chuckles. “I was gonna have you choose between this one and this other oldie I have,” he points at the desk where another book is already sitting, “it’s a longer story, I might have mentioned it before.” Y/N reads the title ‘The Impatient’ engraved in the olive green cover of the large book, “But that’s not in any way lighter either. I would even say it’s among the more depressive ones.“ He pauses for a second, returning ‘House Of Ashes’ in its spot, “Perhaps I could find a story of a less melancholic premise.”

“Wait.“ She lifts her hand, putting his actions to a halt, “Why don’t we change it up for once? How about you tell me a story instead of reading me one?“

He’s very clearly taken aback by this. “I’m afraid an old man like myself doesn’t have a lot to share. Especially not when I’ve spent a rather big chunk of my life in this very place, doing this very thing.”

Y/N shakes her head, “Quite the contrary, mister Curator. I believe you have way more stories than all the people my age combined.” She smirks, “Don’t worry, I won’t tattle if you have some dirt on your name. What is it? Robbery? Fraud? Murder?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Y/N. I am not that interesting.“ He chuckles, settling in his chair. “But I believe I could tell you the story of the only time I helped someone directly rather than through the riddles you hate so much.“

She’s clearly pleased with the outcome of her protest. She gives him a smile, “I’m all ears.“

He can’t help but shake his head at her child-like enthusiasm for something so simple. He’s determined to make it worth her while, so he digs through the contents of his brain, looking for the most interesting memories he has stored there - the ones that would entertain her. Eventually, he comes up with one.

“Have I ever mentioned my dear friend Alan to you, by any chance?“

Y/N thinks for a moment before nodding, “Yeah, but as usual, you were very vague.”

He chuckles, “I know you hate not being given details, so I’m gonna make sure not to leave anything out.” He absentmindedly picks up the pen on his desk, twirling it between his fingers, “Well, a brief introduction to our character Alan: he’s a psychiatrist. A year or two younger than me. He’s from Calgary. I met him in my mid-thirties, when I was still what some would consider young.” He smiles at the pleasant memory.

Y/N fakes shock, placing a hand over her chest, “You mean to tell me there was time when you, the Curator, were young? You can’t be serious. I refuse to believe that.”

“I was. And I was quite handsome, mind you.“ He takes out his wallet, opening it and handing it to Y/N. On the right, covered by a thin layer of clear plastic is a black and white photo of two men in their early to mid forties.

“You’re the one on the left, right?” She asks, staring at the photo wide eyes, looking up at him for confirmation. He nods in response. “Wow, I honestly wouldn’t have recognized you.”

“Understandably so. Time has really taken a toll on me.“ He actually looks saddened when he says that. She can tell that was less a joke and more the truth.

“I wouldn’t say so.“ She tells him sincerely, a small genuine smile on her lips.

He returns her smile, his eyes becoming a bit livelier. “Him and I are still friends till this day. He’s a walking book of stories, I’m sure you’d like him if you ever get the chance to meet him. You see, he has spoken to me about all his patients, never once naming one of them. Until this on young man had come into his office. He was struggling with issues medicine in and of itself couldn’t completely fix. His name was Joshua. The boy was having a really tough time dealing with the loss of his sisters.” He sighs at the memory, “Alan told me he tried everything. He tried all things his years of practice and work have taught him but the boy was slowly sinking further and further down into the void of his mind.“

His voice is way different from his usual narrator tone. You can hear the weight of the events he’s reciting in every syllable that leaves his lips. She is now an accomplice, exactly like if she were there when it all happened.

“It was troubling my friend to the brink of madness, I couldn’t just stand aside and watch that. Also that kind young man, Joshua, deserved a lot better than what life was giving him. Every branch that poor boy held onto snapped. Everything he ever tried to make of himself crumbled. I admired him for the fact that he kept trying and seeking a way to succeed. What he failed to see was the obvious need for help he had. He was longing for a helping hand but no one noticed, or they simply didn’t care. Except this one girl. Her name was Samantha. She saw right through his act. But he never allowed her helping hand to reach him. He never wanted to be a weight on her shoulders. Never wanted to be nor the bump in her road nor the baggage she carried while walking it. So, I stepped in. I taught him the importance of having someone by your side, and taught her the importance of never giving up on someone who means a lot to you. Luckily for themselves and for Alan and I, they listened.“

“Forget about Alan, I want to meet Joshua and Samantha. I want to meet them and give them a big hug.“ Y/N says, her mind wandering to the images she has compiled. A broken boy and a girl with the strength to carry both her and his world in her arms. She can quite see their face, but she can picture their auras, their energies. They feel so real to her, and all just from the Curator’s words alone.

Soon enough, her eyelids start giving out, her eyes fluttering closed. She’s fighting to the best of her ability to stay awake, see this story to its end, but the Curator’s storytelling and the dark, candlelit room aren’t helping her with the battle. Her mind is drifting further and further into the land where the story she’s being told will keep expanding with elements added by her imagination. She’s certain she’ll dream of this tale.

“Oh you’re already clocking out, huh?“ The Curator chuckles, pausing his story mid-sentence.

“Can’t help it.“ Y/N mumbles, already more than half asleep, “Just tell me how it ends, you’ll fill in the gaps when I wake up.“

“Well, it hasn’t ended yet. I can tell you where it’s at at the moment.“ She hums approvingly, “It’s been five years since I stepped in and now they are happily married. They have a little one on the way. A little girl, I believe.“

A lazy smile forms on her face. “That’s nice.” the words leave her lips in the form of a sleepy sigh moments before she has been dragged into the deepest crevasses of her mind and imagination.

The Curator calmly and quietly gets up, taking his jacket from the coatrack. He drapes it over the girl asleep in the armchair on the other side of his desk. Little does this college student know, he has seen both her past and future. He has met her in several different periods of her life. She’s been like her own personal guardian angel. In her past-lives too.

Guardian angel of death.

He was lucky to have met Alan before that curse was bestowed upon him - making the psychiatrist the only man he could interact with without bringing him a sooner than anticipated and inevitable demise. He wasn’t completely honest with Y/N about the time frame of meeting the other man, but that was not an important piece of information. She could do without it. He used the only hall-pass he had to do his old friend a favor - settle the storms that raged between Joshua and Samantha. And now, he’s locked away from the world, waiting for souls to come to him instead of the other way around.

Nowadays, he just stays hidden from people and only meets with those who wander into his repository. It’s always the same pattern: they come in, not really sure how they ended up there; He coaches them through a story they think they have some sort of impact on; and then they leave and never come back.

Color the man surprised when he saw her walk in the first time. It took him no time to connect the dots, he’d recognize her anywhere. She wasn’t clueless like the others, she actually seemed like she was looking for the place. He spent the next week or so feeling like he had failed the only purpose he had - to keep her safe. That was until she showed up again, even cheerier than the first time. That’s when he knew he shouldn’t fear for her, for she was a phenomenon beyond his understanding. A soul never in death’s reach.

“I hope you never get to see the same fate as everyone else who meets me.“ He whispers, looking down at her sleeping form.

He knows she’s special. After all, he never has never met anyone more than once.

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howtosingit · 4 years ago

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Fic: you make me breathe so heavily

Rolling off the couch onto the floor does nothing to douse the fire between them.

A missing moment from 1x02.

1.5K | Mature | Also on AO3

- - - - -

Carlos hardly notices when they roll off of his couch and onto the floor.

Every single one of his senses is dialed to eleven, and all five of them are focused solely on the man who somehow feels like he is both inside and all around Carlos, consuming him completely. It’s not that it’s been a long time since he’s brought someone back to his place -- he knows where to find good company when he wants it -- but it has been awhile since he’s felt like he was doing more than just going through the motions.

Sex with TK Strand is way more than going through the motions, though. Sex with TK is, if he’s being completely honest, really fucking great.

When he’d gotten a text from the firefighter the night before, Carlos had definitely been a little surprised. It’s been a few days since their night out at the honky-tonk, and with no word from the other man, he had just assumed that TK had changed his mind about hooking up, or maybe even found a different dance partner.

Sure, they’d run into each other at the mercury poisoning call, but things had been absolute chaos and other than a few exchanges here or there, they hadn’t had time to really discuss their evening back at the bar. Which was a shame, in Carlos’s opinion; it had taken him hours to come down from the adrenaline high of that call, and he really could’ve used someone to help tire him out.

But none of that mattered now, because TK had texted him last night, asking if he wanted to get together the next day, before his shift. They’d met at a coffee shop only a few minutes from Carlos’s apartment, but TK’s behavior had made it pretty clear that he had no interest in either caffeine or conversation. Between his obvious bedroom eyes and the way he pulled his bottom lip between his teeth as he ran his fingertips along Carlos’s forearm, continuing their tactile exchange from the honky-tonk, Carlos knew exactly what TK wanted.

“Should we get our order to go?” he’d asked, leaning in close enough to run his lips against the shell of TK’s ear. From that position, he’d felt the other man shiver at his question, TK’s eyes widening as his pupils dilated, his want so obvious that any verbal response was unnecessary.

Had the five-minute drive home been any longer, Carlos is sure that they wouldn’t have made it. TK had leaned over his console immediately after buckling his seatbelt, his palm pressed firmly to Carlos’s thigh. “I’m gonna make you feel so good,” TK had said, pressing his lips against the soft skin beneath Carlos’s ear. He’d moaned in reply, quickly turning to capture TK’s lips with his own, his tongue pushing through the barrier to finally taste the man that he’d been thinking about for the past three days. It was nirvana.

The drive was a blur, as was the walk up his front path to the door. He vaguely recalls TK wrapping his arms around him while he struggled with the lock, pressing open-mouthed kisses into his neck and circling his tongue around his Adam’s apple, sending blood rushing south. Before he could even open the door, TK had pushed him against it, his hands running up and down his sides as Carlos reached for the knob, the two of them falling through the doorway into his apartment.

Carlos’s mind struggled to keep up with his body as they steadied themselves against his living room walls, hands everywhere and tongues battling for dominance. They’d laughed together, both completely caught up in one another and the ecstasy of this moment. Carlos managed to move them across the room, pushing TK onto the couch as he finally ridded himself of his shirt.

There had been a moment of recognition, his brain finding the strength to pull him out of his lust-driven daze to take in what was happening between them: TK lying back on his couch, staring up at him with bright, pupil-blown eyes, and Carlos’s heart absolutely collapsing in his chest at the sight.

The moment ended as suddenly as it came, and Carlos dived towards the couch, pressing himself against the entire length of TK’s body. Their bare chests, already covered in sweat, slid against one another. He’d heard TK let out a moan beneath him, felt his hands greedily grabbing his ass, guiding their hips together. Carlos had let out a moan of his own, the evidence of TK’s interest in him clear even through their pants.

So, he’s not quite sure how they got to where they are now, but one minute they're making out on his couch and then the next, the room is spinning as gravity pulls them onto the floor.

Carlos lands on his back, TK on top of him. He lets out a huff, but he can’t even begin to assess any possible bruising or injury before TK speaks.

“Shit, sorry,” TK laughs, and the sight of his stunning, gorgeous, million-dollar megawatt smile draws a laugh from Carlos as well. He leans up to press their lips together, their teeth clacking briefly as they both struggle to contain their grins.

The heat returns as TK begins to move down Carlos’s body, pressing his tongue and teeth to his chest before moving further south. In what seems like no time, he’s pulling Carlos jeans down, throwing them somewhere out of the way. Carlos raises himself up on his elbows, watching as TK runs his hands up his legs and then, with only a wicked smirk to warn him, reaches for the waistband of Carlos’s boxer briefs, stripping them off in one fluid motion.

“Fuck,” TK gasps, staring down at Carlos’s naked body, his hands trailing back up his legs towards his hips. “Things really are bigger in Texas.”

“Oh my god,” Carlos groans, throwing his head back. He can feel a flush creeping up the back of his neck at TK’s completely ridiculous compliment. “You did not just say that.”

“Any chance you can pretend like I didn’t?” TK questions after a moment of silence, and Carlos peeks up to find his eyes wide and face bright red.

“Take your pants off, and I’ll consider it,” Carlos says through a laugh, rising up to help him. By the time they’re both free of their clothes, they’ve forgotten the corny comment, though the fun, casual tone remains. Taking him in, Carlos decides that TK’s body more than makes up for anything ridiculous that might slip out of his mouth.

He leans back against the couch as TK straddles him. Carlos reaches for the back of his neck, pulling him close to devour his mouth once again; he’s not sure he’ll ever get over how amazing TK tastes, or the way he enthusiastically matches Carlos in his hunger for complete satisfaction.

“What do you want, Carlos?” TK asks, gasping for breath as he dives towards Carlos’s neck, pressing kisses along his collarbone.

“I want to taste you,” Carlos says through clenched teeth as TK reaches to take them both in his hand. He moans at the friction, dying to know if every inch of TK tastes as good as his mouth. “Y-you?” he stutters out.

TK takes a breath, giving Carlos a hard stare before looking down at where he holds them in his hand. “I want whatever you’re willing to give me.”

There’s a moment where time seems to stop, a heavy silence falling between them as their eyes meet. It feels huge, like they're on the edge of a precipice, preparing to jump into some unknown void, with no idea what’s at the bottom. It feels nothing like any hook-up that Carlos has ever had. There’s a charge, an energy rolling through them that lights up every single inch of his body and soul.

If he wasn’t already bared underneath him, this moment with TK would bring him to his knees.

And he knows, without a shadow of a doubt, that he’s willing to give this man everything he has.

So, he does.

With a nod, he pulls TK back in, wrapping his arms around him, chasing the high that this man gives him. Together, they discover all of the different ways that their bodies speak and touch and look and taste and sound, their senses guiding them towards their mutual end, Carlos buried deep, his face pressed against the sweaty skin of TK’s neck as his partner grips his shoulders tightly and moans his name.

And after, when TK leaves before Carlos can even catch his breath, he feels that energy still coursing through him, his skin tingling as his mind races with excitement and possibility about what the future holds for the two of them.

It’s a feeling he’s willing to chase.

#tarlos #tarlos fic #911 lone star #tk strand #carlos reyes #I wrote a thing #tarlos missing moments collection #lone star 1x02

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